League Champions 2010

After a long season Donaghcloney 1st XI were crowned Section II champions after winning an impressive 15 games from 17 played in the league. The league was decided at Templepatrick where the Cloney went about their business and claimed another home and away scalp in the season. The only games lost all year were a 2  night game against Millpark when Stuart Kidd produced an exceptional bowling spell of 6 overs 6 for 9 and the only other loss in the league was the very first game of the season against Academy which was reduced to 30 overs due to the April showers.

There has been a total of 29 players who togged out for the 1st XI this year and every single one of them made a contribution no matter how small. There were a few youngsters who got their first taste of senior cricket notably Alan Thompson who impressed with his tidy off spin at Cooke Collegians, Peter Moates a talented left hander with a good eye in his head, Richard Lylttle who has been impressive all year for the 2nd XI behind the stumps and when asked to step up to the 1 st didn’t look out of place. Young Ben Daley from the under 13’s also played against Academy in a twenty 20 fixture and didn’t disgrace himself at all.

The season however belonged to the old heads. Neil Carson coming back to play for Donaghloney made a huge difference and he formed the backbone of the batting throughout the season. Stephen Hanna came back from an ankle injury early season and showed what a talent he really is. Continually he was the go to man to get wickets and very rarely did he let the side down. David Marshall who was also struck down with illness during the early part of the season soon found his stride and was the perfect foil for the up and coming Jonny Stephenson as the opening bowling partnership. More often than not they got the early wickets and opened the door to the opposition middle order. Colin Martin was a massive inluence while on the pitch. His contribution with both bat and ball cannot be understated with runs and wickets at vital stages proving to be the difference between winning and losing on several occasions. Old head Lyness Topping proved he was still up for the challenge with runs throughout the year and even a wicket in the one time he was asked to bowl.