North Fermanagh (NFCC) 1st XI welcomed Brigade 2nd XI to Kesh on Saturday for their first home league fixture of the season.

After starting the season so well, all had high hopes of continuing this rich vein of form and entertaining the spectators that had come down to the club to soak up not just the sunshine but also the cricket.

With NFCC missing captain Graeme Fitzpatrick, the task of carrying out the toss was passed to vice-captain Greg Piergrosse. Brigade won the toss and elected to put NFCC in to bat first.

NFCC couldn’t have had a worse start with the loss of four quick wickets in the opening three overs. David Mills (5) initially with Badar Mahmood (30) and then Timothy Beacom (15) attempted to put together some form of defence, but the strength of the Brigade bowling attack was too much. NFCC finishing on 77 all out of 21 overs.

In reply, the North Fermanagh bowling attack started well with both David Mills and Badar Mahmood picking up maidens in the first two overs. The first breakthrough came in the seventh with Badar bowling C. Dixon (20).

Chris Faris was the next to strike picking up a further three wickets caught by Greg Piergrosse, Gordon Fitzpatrick and Timothy Beacom respectively.

However, the experienced Brigade batters continued to keep the scoreboard ticking over. After Timothy bowled E. Wilson in the 16th over with Brigade on 64 for 5 thoughts of a comeback started to appear, but a flurry of well executed strokes from J. Scott (13*) saw the away team reach their target with ease. Finishing on 80 for 5 of 19 overs.

North Fermanagh 2nd XI eventually got their season underway with an away fixture against Strabane 2nds.

Sam Galloway and Abdul Basit opened the batting for NFCC. Abdul was caught by Mark McNulty from his own bowling in the third over.

This brought Kieran Shead to the crease. Sam and Kieran then got to work on building a great partnership. Shead peppered the boundary whilst Galloway worked at rotating the strike with a fine display of controlled strokes and with the pair bringing up the century.

Sam (34) was the first to be dismissed, stumped from the bowling of J Smith. Smith then struck twice more in the same over with Osama Chaudhry being caught behind and Asif Muhammad being caught LBW. Kieran continued to add runs with Umar Ali before he was eventually bowled by Mark McNulty, finishing on a personal best of 75. North Fermanagh finished on 169 for 7 from 30 overs.

The Strabane 2nds started well with the opening pair showing their experience by playing a range of shots. The North Fermanagh fielders did well though, restricting boundaries being scored.

Kieran Shead picked up two wickets, the first caught from his own bowling, the second a full toss that struck the base of the stumps.

Sam Galloway also picked up two wickets, his first from his very first ball. Abdul Basit also collected a wicket.

Strabane finished strongly though, upping their run rate and scoring quickly, reaching the required target of 170 for 5 of 28 overs.

Next weekend both North Fermanagh teams are on the road again. 1st XI head to Newbuildings 2nds for a 12 noon start, whilst the 2nds head to Bready 3rds for a 1pm start.