North Fermanagh Cricket Club once again triumphed on Saturday, with a well worked win against Burndennett in blistering conditions. The sun was beating down on Kesh, with spectators not only enjoying the great weather but also an impressive cricketing display on the field. After another busy week by the grounds’ team at the club, the pitch was looking fantastic giving the opportunity to play again on a super grass wicket.

Burndennett won the toss and elected to bat first.

The bowling duo of David Mills and Graeme Fitzpatrick were once again trusted by Captain Greg Piergrosse to pile on the pressure with their quick deliveries, restricting Burndennett’s openers and after the first three overs the visitors had only been able to score four runs.

Precision bowling and excellent fielding by the Fermanagh men making it hard for the batters to make any headway. The wicket of J. Colhoun (0) fell in the fourth with a pin-point delivery from Graeme clearing the bails. A partnership between B Logue (38) and G Porter (17) helped to add a further 20 runs before Porter was caught behind by wicketkeeper Gordon Fitzpatrick from the bowling of David Mills. A McNamee (36) and Logue helped steady the ship and with a number of boundary strikes helping them reach the hundred mark by the 17th over until Logue was dismissed by the bowling of Scott Croft. Greg Piergrosse quickly dispatched a further two of the Burndennett batters including the wicket of A McNamee who had been scoring some big strikes.

After two balls to get his eye in he then bowled both with consecutive balls changing the balance of the game in the home sides favour.

The remaining batters were able to add steadily to the score with Burndennett finishing on 167 for 7 from their 30 overs. David Mills with the standout bowling figures with three wickets for 28 runs of his six overs.

Fermanagh opened their batting with David Mills (85*) and Ian Wilson (15).

The pair quickly got into their fast powerplay style with both batters striking the ball to the boundaries. Ian Wilson with the strike of the game, a six that not only cleared the rope but also the fence. The dismissal of Ian Wilson saw the introduction of Graeme Fitzpatrick (54*). Graeme and David then put on a real batting show for the spectators with Mills reaching his half century with a crisply hit ball to the boundary. The heat took its toll and Fitzpatrick retired hurt on 54 with NFCC only requiring three runs to clinch the victory. Matthew Morrison (4*) came to the crease and after an initial miss sent the white ball to the boundary for four with North Fermanagh scoring 168 for 1 with five overs to spare.

Man of the Match was David Mills, impressing with both bat and ball.

The North Fermanagh team welcome Newbuildings and Coleraine to the NFCC Grounds, Kesh, for a double-header next weekend, July 24-25. With restrictions for spectators now more relaxed, an enjoyable two days of cricket is on offer to players and visitors alike. Thanks must go the NFCC’s ground team for the amazing efforts to get the field more than match-ready for next weekend’s double-header.

Training continues Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6.30pm at the ground in Kesh. Anyone interested in participating are welcome to attend and give cricket a go, experience is not required, and all are very welcome.

North Fermanagh Cricket Club youth weekly coaching sessions continue - Tuesdays at 5.30-6.30pm for 5-10 year-olds and Thursdays 5.30-6.30pm for 11-16 year olds. These sessions are free to and open to all who are interested – it was great to see lots of boys and girls down at the club last week enjoying learning about cricket from NFCC’s Cricket Ireland qualified coaches. Anyone interested in learning more about cricket and having fun can contact North Fermanagh Cricket Club via Facebook and Instagram.