Donemana get back on cricket cup winning trail in Sperrin Springs T20

Sperrin Springs winners, Donemana, celebrate with the trophy.Sperrin Springs winners, Donemana, celebrate with the trophy.
Sperrin Springs winners, Donemana, celebrate with the trophy.
​It has certainly been a season of two halves this year- non-stop sunshine for the first eight weeks and incessant rain ever since- and it was the latter again on Sunday as the Sperrin Springs and Eric Cooke T20 cups were decided by bowl-outs.

Hosts Bonds Glen did everything in their power to play cricket but they got just a handful of deliveries bowled in the first match before rain took care of everything else.

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Donemana went on to win the Sperrin Springs bowl-out on a 2-1 scoreline; Glendermott's Bob Robinson hitting the stumps with the first ball of the shoot-out with William McBrine equalising for Donemana with the last.

North West Warriors and Ireland all-rounder Andy McBrine made the difference in sudden death as he hit to claim the trophy for the Holm team.

Newbuildings batsmen Gareth McKeegan and Jason Dunn both scored centuries against Glendermott on SaturdayNewbuildings batsmen Gareth McKeegan and Jason Dunn both scored centuries against Glendermott on Saturday
Newbuildings batsmen Gareth McKeegan and Jason Dunn both scored centuries against Glendermott on Saturday

The second match- the Eric Cooke final- went straight to a bowl-out after more rain with Eglinton's Mike Erlank and Coleraine's Stephen Hutchinson swapping hits to make the score 1-1 before Gareth Burns won it for the north coast team with a last-ball strike.

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In the All-Ireland T20 semi-finals, Brigade were edged out by Balbriggan in the last over in a keenly contested affair.

Batting first, Scott Macbeth made 46 and Iftikhar Hussain 39 with Adam McDaid chipping in with 26 in a total of 130-9 from their reduced 14 overs.

Despite early wickets from Ryan Macbeth and Josh Wilson reducing the Leinster side to 38-3 early on, an excellent partnership between Cameron Rowe (73 not out) and Greg Ford (63) helped steer them over the line with 5 wickets, but just four deliveries to spare.

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Johnny Thompson edges and is caught by Glendermott wicket-keeper Gihan Cloete.Johnny Thompson edges and is caught by Glendermott wicket-keeper Gihan Cloete.
Johnny Thompson edges and is caught by Glendermott wicket-keeper Gihan Cloete.

No play was possible in the Women's semi-final between Fox Lodge and CSNI- that fixture will now be reversed and played next week at Stormont.

In the Long's SuperValu league, Newbuildings were the big movers this weekend after a huge win at Glendermott on Saturday was followed by a 6-wicket win at Burndennett on Sunday.

Fair play to the home side for hanging around and working to get a game in after rain had looked like putting an end to proceedings with 'Dennett 60-2 after 13 overs.

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Niall McDonnell was unbeaten on 35 but with 'replays' able to go down to 10 overs a side, the hosts did their bit to clear up after the showers with Newbuildings set 71 to win in 10 overs.

Johnny Thompson made an unbeaten 42 (2 fours, 3 sixes) and Mark Hanna added 26 as the visitors got there with 8 deliveries up their sleeve to move into fifth place in the table.

Bready made very hard work of beating Strabane after losing six wickets for 15 runs as they chased the Red Caps' 130-7 in a reduced 26 overs.

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Kevin Gallagher top scored with 37, Aaron Gillespie made 31 and Usman Azhar 21 for Strabane with Irosh Samarasooriya and Gavin Roulston picking up two wickets each.

David Rankin hit 38, Irosh 21 and Roulston 19 to break the back of the chase before the Magheramason side fell down a hole.

An unbroken 8th wicket stand between Dean McCloskey and Jamie Magee- the latter batting at a very unfamiliar Number 9- steadied the ship as Bready went top of the table with a three-wicket verdict.

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Just two matches were completed on Saturday- the first of those the League One cup final where Donemana IIs accounted for The Nedd by 10 wickets.

In truth, the damage had been done in Friday's first innings where the hosts had led by a massive 184 runs at the end of a dominant day.

Ritchie McBrine smashed a 45-ball 113 (5 fours and 13 sixes) with Graham Boyd adding 65 (5 fours, 5 sixes), Mark Moore 45, Joe Robinson 38 and Adam Kelly 31 (4 sixes) in the hosts' first innings total of 366-9.

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Johnny Murray (3-54) fared best with the ball while there were two wickets each for Johnny Young and Jon McMichael.

Young top scored with the bat- his 43 and 30 from Mark McCann the best of the Ballykelly side's 182 all out - skipper Jamie Huey (3-14) leading from the front with the ball while there were also two wickets each for McBrine, Graham Boyd and Adam Britton.

Leading by 184, Donemana enforced the follow-on, and fair play to both teams as they got the third innings done before stumps on Friday.

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The Nedd batted much better this time around with Dylan Moore hitting an unbeaten 63 (5 fours, 4 sixes), while Jacob Logan Wilson's 59 contained 7 sixes and a four.

McCann and Reuben Wilson chipped in with 34 and 33 respectively and Steve Moore 27 in a battling 271 all out- an overall lead of 87.

Early rain on Saturday saw the fourth innings reduced to 20 overs with Donemana set 58 to win and it took just 4 overs- Player of the Match McBrine hitting 5 sixes in his 13-ball 35* and Robinson 14* as the Tyrone side secured the win.

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The single Long's SuperValu senior league game was also something of a run-fest as Newbuildings crushed Glendermott by 278 runs in a rain-affected game.

The match was reduced to 31 overs a side, but there was still time for Jason Dunn and Gareth McKeegan to post a 264-run stand for the first wicket.

McKeegan was out immediately after passing his century (68 balls; 7 fours, 8 sixes) while 'Bull' carried on his merry way- smashing 11 fours and 20 sixes in an 88-ball 192.

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Trent McKeegan got in on the fun with 43 from 19 (3 fours, 4 sixes) with all the home bowlers put to the sword, although Ben Mills did pick up a couple of wickets.

The Glendermott skipper also made 40 in his side's reply; however the highest score after him was 11 in a disappointing 88 all out.

Trent was unplayable at times as he claimed 5-24 while Gregory McFaul claimed 3-12 in a vital win for the cup finalists as they moved into the top half of the senior table.

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