Villagers denied on the final day

The villagers went into their final match against Civil Service North knowing that their fate was out of their hands with North Down two points ahead.

Jonathan Bushe’s men needed to win and hope North Down slumped to a surprise defeat at CIYMS, but in the end although Waringstown won easily, the Comber club thrashed CI to take the trophy by the narrowest of margins.

Batting first at Stormont, Waringstown did wobble briefly as Andrew Cousins and Kyle McCallan were dismissed cheaply by John Costain on a pitch that offered early assistance to the seamers.

However, James Hall played one of his finest innings of the season, seeing off the new ball with aplomb before a lengthy rain delay halted play with Waringstown 69 for two.

When the players re-emerged the match was reduced to 26 overs per side, and Hall and Lee Nelson combined to help Waringstown reach 115 for three.

Hall was eventually dismissed just after reaching a fine half century and Nelson continued his late-season return to form with an eye-catching unbeaten 42.

With Waringstown having only lost three wickets by the end of their innings the Duckworth-Lewis recalculation was kind to them, setting CSNI an unlikely 175 for victory.

In the end it wasn’t a contest as Charley Crasborn (3-10) burst through the top order with his best spell as a Waringstown bowler and McCallan mopped up the tail with four wickets for just a single run.

CSN, who were missing five of their best players, were bowled out for 45 in less than 14 overs as Waringstown recorded a 134-run win.

It was harsh for Waringstown to end up with nothing this season. They lost fewer matches than last season when they earned a share of the Premier League title with Instonians, and they lost three semi-finals.

The Irish Cup semi defeat by Merrion was the hardest to take, because this was a match when everything looked to be in their favour. They reduced the visitors to 16 for four batting first and despite a rally from the Dubliners that took them to just over 200, it should have been a routine chase against a very ordinary bowling attack.

That Waringstown fell so far short that day underlined where their biggest problems lie. Not enough batsmen put their hands up to support McCallan, who hit more than 1,000 runs in a vintage season.

Hall and Nelson showed exactly what they are capable of in the closing weeks of the campaign, but more of the younger players have still to show that they have what it takes to fully make the transition from second eleven to senior cricket.