Matthew Lyttle tears the heart out of Victoria

Matt Lyttle with 6 for 32

Saturday saw Donaghcloney travel to Lurgan Park to play Victoria in a league competition for the first time in over 20 years. Donaghcloney and Victoria were both keen to win for very different reasons. Donaghcloney need to keep winning to secure promotion back into Section 1 while Victoria are at the other end of the table in a relegation dogfight with MillPark and Cooke Collegians. Donaghcloney won the toss and chose to bowl. Steven Lecky and David Marshall took the new ball and didn’t take long to strike. After 7 overs Victoria were 6 for 3 and in all sorts of problems before a strong stand between Ashmal (34) and Khan (30). Both players played some expansive shots and started to take the game away from Donaghcloney before Matthew Lyttle took his first of 6 wickets. He had Ashmal caught in the covers by Mansing in his second over and continued to rip the heart out of the Victoria batting. matthew bowled with great accuracy and rhythm and took wickets at regular intervals fnishing with figures of 6-32 in his 10 overs. S Lecky took the final wicket of the innings bowling out S Irwin to finish with figures of 3 for 19. Victoria had reached 118 in just 32 overs.

Philip Derby and Mansing opened the batting and it was Derby who took the attack to Victoria. He was quick to pounce on anything loose and punish it well including a six over mid wicket. Derby fell on 24 and Mansing picked up were he left of. Mansing was heading towards another half century when he was caught out for 46 in the covers of the bowling of Khan. Alan Harland and Shane Warren saw the Cloney home to an eight wicket victory to keep the them second in the league and in the promotion hunt. League details here