Erne Community Cricket Club lifted the North West Cricket Union’s League 4&5 Plate after a successful trip to Eglinton on Saturday.

They booked their place in the final with an enthralling semi-final chase against Newbuildings two weeks prior.

ECCC took on Eglinton thirds who saw off Killyclooney in their semi-final, for just 21 runs. The home side lost both their opening batsmen inside the first three overs.

Enniskillen’s strike bowler Rinu Mathew clean bowled Eglinton captain J. McCready (1) and Eoghan Brown did the same to C. Gillespie (0).

Their tight opening spells were continued by the pacy attack of Vivek Anchalassery who soon bowled K. Murray (0) whilst Alwin Philip was also regularly beating the bat. Eglinton were 36 for three after 12 overs of sharp fielding.

After Eglinton were on 73 for 4 off 18 overs, Brown and Mathew then produced some quality, taking a combined three wickets for just 16 runs across the next six overs to halt Englinton’s flow.

Mathew bowled K Lamrock (10) before Brown had TW Spratt (11) well caught by his diving father Matt Brown, and then had T Averill (0) snick off to McNulty at slip. The Derry side were brought down from 89 to seven off 24 overs.

Philip and Anchalassary returned to complete the job inside three overs. Philip removed D. Robb (0) with McNulty taking the best of his hat-trick of flying slip catches from a slight deflection off wicketkeeper Nick Hambly’s glove.

Anchalassery had B Jennings (0) caught and bowled, then a season’s best performance in the field was topped off with the run out of T. Jennings (12). Eglinton closed their innings on 93 runs all out from 26.5 overs and lunch was taken.

ECCC’s opening batsmen Rob Turner and Matt Brown carved out some joy against the young Eglinton side. Turner defiantly clattered the first ball for four, but further runs were hard to come by as Averill and Spratt gave little away with good line and length bowling.

Turner eventually fell at the end of the fifth over, bowled for 7 runs, and his replacement Eoghan Brown was caught and bowled soon after without scoring, leaving them on 19 for 2 off 6.2 overs.

Eglinton spirits grew when the Erne side were 26 for three and Brown was bowled for eight runs in the 10th over. However, an Eglinton injury time-out taken when Lee McNulty smashed a line drive into a fielder at mid-on who couldn’t hold the catch seemed to break the spell of the bowling attack, and McNulty and Rinu Mathew went to work.

The run rate increased as McNulty then perished in the fifteenth over, after scoring 28 from 21 balls faced with 4 fours and leaving ECCC on 61 for 4.

Mick Lodge joined Mathew and the pair continued the momentum that was now all with ECCC, producing shots all around the ground.

Bowlers Bogle and Lamrock couldn’t stem the tide and after the nineteenth over went for 13 runs, including one huge six from Mathew, the game was up.

Lodge ended unbeaten on 13 from 16 balls with two fours, and Mathew on 29 from 26 balls with three fours and a six.

It was fitting that Mathew clattered the winning runs with a four battered straight down the ground.

ECCC finished on 95 for 4 from 19.1 overs, to claim this year’s NWCU League 4&5 Plate.