NW CRICKET FINAL: Five in a row for Donemana
The Holm men had Ireland international Andy McBrine to thank as he secured his fourth man of the match award after producing a super batting display, in the rain affected Bank of Ireland show-piece encounter, at Strabane.
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Hide AdMcBrine, who came to the crease with Donemana at 8-2 chasing 157 to win, he steaded the ship and scored an impressive 86 not out, in fact he sealed the win with a massive six.
“It’s a great achievement for the side and we are all delighted,” stated McBrine.
“It’s nice to get five in a row, the lads over the last two days in particular have put in a lot of work.
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Hide Ad“I just dug in for the team and I was delighted to get us over the line in the end up. There was a tricky period early on, but it’s never easy chasing 150-160 in final and we knew that Coleraine were going to come out at us, which they did, but me and Gary (McClintock) put on a bit of a stand for around 30 or 40 and that settled us down a wee bit.
“Then myself and Aggie (Andrew Riddles) put on 50/60, that sort of took the game away from them; if they had got me or Aggie early then it might have swung either way.” McBrine, who went only scored seven in the first innings, was delighted to play his part in the success.
“It was a repeat of last year with me and Gary at the wicket after a poor start, but my game plan was to go out and attack them, I didn’t want them to settle,” he added.
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Hide Ad“I played a few shots and that settled myself down early on and I was delighted to take us home. We put down a couple of chances in the first innings and they were sort of crucial, but on Saturday we backed it up strong.
“There was great a bowling performance at the end from the lads. I think they were 130 or 104 for 4, with 15 overs left but wee Willie (McBrine) and Richie (McBrine) at the end set us up well. There tight bowling meant we were chasing 156 instead of 200, which was going to be more tricky, and that’s a credit to them.”
The 22-year-old all-rounder is already hungry for more success this season and is now focusing on the Premier League title.
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Hide Ad“Look we are going to take one game at time but we win all our games then we won’t be far away,” he added.
“Maybe a few results will go our way, but I’m just happy now that we have our fifth senior cup win in a row and I was just happy to have put that effort in for the team. We’ll enjoy tonight and then start focusing on the league.”
Another man who shone over the two days was Riddles, who returned to the club this season, his 76 not out in the first innings meant Donemana returned this morning 37 runs ahead and McBrine felt there partnership won the cup.
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Hide Ad“As I said myself and Aggie probably took the game away from Coleraine, as our partnership scored around 50-60,” added McBrine. “I felt pretty good when I was in and thankfully everyone played their part and we are bringing the cup back to Donemana.”