Donaghcloney Cricket & Recreation Club

Had a superb game with 45runs, 3 catches and a vital wicket against Cooke Collegians

The weather was fantastic, the wicket looked perfect and both Lurgan and Donaghcloney were keen to get the season off to a winning start. Winning the toss Keith Martin elected to bat and the season was officially underway. Lyness Topping and Keith Martin opened the batting and got off to a steady start. Lyness took control of the innings playing freely and getting on the front foot early on to play some lovely cover drives. Keith played a supporting role before the spin of Narinja the Lurgan professional found him trapped in front of the wicket. At 68 for 1 of 22 overs drinks were taken early.

Lyness continued to bat well but unfortunately no one could hang around for any length of time to build a partnership. David Marshal looked good for his brief 14 before he too was trapped in leg before and Colin Hylands showed glimpses of brilliance for a quickfire 16 before he was bowled. Lyness continued to play his shots taking 18 of one over which included two consecutive sixes over mid off. Eventually he tried one shot too many and was out for a entertaining 78 in what was the highlight of Donaghcloney’s day at Pollock park. I’m sure Lyness will rue the fact he missed out on a hundred but hopefully there will be many more innings like that to come this season.

At 141 for 5 Donaghcloney were looking to get 180-200 but they hadn’t counted on the uprising antipodean star who opens the bowling for Lurgan. He got a hatrick and the Cloney were all out for 141 and were left wondering where it all went wrong. read more…

Indoor nets will start on Wednesday 9th March at 8.30pm to 10.30pm in Banbridge Leisure Center. The nets will run for 6 continuous weeks and it would be great to see everyone there.

1st XI Player of the year 2010, Stephen Hanna

Donaghcloney CC  had a successful year in 2010 with the first XI getting promotion to Section one. The first XI only lost 2 games all year and with nearly 30 players togging out for them throughout the year it was a real team effort. Throughout the year two names stood out, that being Neil Carson and Stephen Hanna. Neil averaged nearly 40 with the bat and was the back bone pf the Donaghcloney batting line up. Stephen despite a serious ankle injury which meant he missed 5 games mid season still finished the top wicket taker for the season. Both players also took some memorable catches leading by example in the field and inspiring the rest of the team to produce their best. However their can only be one player of the year and Stephen took the honors.

The Seconds too had a successful year finishing mid table and had several close finishes which if they had gone the other way, things could have been very different. As it was it was a an old head Stephen Lyttle who lead the way with the bat. He batted with authority throughout the season amassing over 400 runs and a top score of 76.

Father and son Stephen and Richard Lyttle with their player of the year awards for the 2nd XI and U15's respectfully.

There were many trade mark boundaries but Stephen showed he could bat with patience when the situation needed a steadier approach. His son Richard also starred with the bat scoring his first senior 50 and performed very well behind the stumps improving throughout the season. Stephen and Richard were voted player of the year for the 2nd XI and Under 15’s respectfully.

To round the evening of Keith Martin was awarded club man of the year for his captaincy of the 1st XI and work behind the scenes. Special mention must also go to Raymie Matthews, Stephen Hanna, Keith Ogle and the rest of the committee who gave up many nights to get the ground playable each weekend and keep the club going from strength to strength. Good luck to everyone in 2011 which I’m sure will bring a lot of challenges and will need the collective effort of many within the club to ensure another sucessful year is had.

Section 2 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. read more…