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Bangor Grammar School (right) upset all the odds yesterday to take the Ulster Bank Schools Cricket Cup, thus thwarting a hat trick of wins by holders RBAI.
The Muckamore pitch with its uneven pace and bounce did the match few favours and Bangor’s four wicket win saw little over 60 overs yield only 185 runs for the loss of 16 wickets.
The formidable Belfast “Inst” side had little hesitation in batting first but it was a decision soon regretted as they were bundled out for just 92 - by far their lowest score in a competition which has seen them average over 250 when taking first knock.
Bangor wobbled at 49 for five, but a sixth wicket stand between Mark Nixon and Adam McCusker added 35 priceless runs - the highest partnership of the match - to give the grammar school its first cup success since 2001.
“Inst” had gone into the game firm favourites, not least because of the remarkable batting form of captain James Shannon whose previous five cup innings had earned him an average nudging 150 that included two centuries and a 99.
But it was not to be his day and on a less than predictable pitch his early ambition was to be his downfall, caught on the long off boundary for just two. His departure at 21 for 2 gave the Bangor bowlers the encouragement they needed and with four wickets falling in the 40s - two of them in successive balls to Jordan McKeown - the holders were in serious difficulty. A flurry by Sean Price saw him top score with 29 but even that failed to take “Inst” into three figures, with Bangor captain Ryan Law cleaning up the lower order to return 4 for 20.
Life was never going to be easy for the Bangor batsmen and so it proved when Shannon’s younger brother Sam struck twice in three balls to put the grammar school on the back foot at 19 for two and with half the side gone on the wrong side of 50, it was anyone’s game.
The stand between Nixon and McCusker saw to it that Bangor got there in the end without undue alarm, the former top scorer in the match with 30 and McCusker undefeated with 25. It was a forceful stand under difficult conditions that took their team to a deserved victory.
Ryan Law lifts the Trophy flanked by Schools' Chairman Basil McNamee and NCU President Ian Gourley
Ulster Bank Schools' Cup Final 2008
Bangor GS v RBAI
19 June 2008
Moylena, Muckamore CC
Result: Bangor won by 4 wickets
Toss: RBAI
Umpires: Bob Kane & Walter Montgomery
RBAI
M Irwin c McCusker b McKeown 17 A Nixon 9 1 22 0
R McCarthy c McCusker b Savage 11 C Savage 8.2 1 21 3
J Shannon c M Nixon b Savage 2 J McKeown 7 3 14 3
A Dhareula c A Nixon b Law 6 R Law 10 0 24 4
R Martin c McCusker b McKeown 2 M Nixon 3 0 11 0
B Wylie c Kennedy b McKeown 0
S Price b Savage 29
Z Booley c Kennedy b Law 7
R McCurry b Law 5
S Shannon b Law 0
R Whitten not out 4
Extras 9
Total (all out, 37.2 overs) 92
FOW: 1-15, 2-21, 3-41, 4-43, 5-43, 6-43, 7-66, 8-77, 9-79, 10-92
BANGOR
Z Callan-Rushe c Price b S Shannon 12 S Shannon 5 1 8 3
A Nixon b S Shannon 8 S Price 2 0 18 0
J McKeown c Irwin b S Shannon 0 J Shannon 10 0 37 2
M Nixon b Wylie 30 B Wylie 5.1 3 2 1
J Parker c McCurry b J Shannon 5 R McCurry 1 0 4 0
R Law b J Shannon 2
A McCusker not out 25
C Burns not out 5
C Savage
B Kennedy
R Murphy
Extras 6
Total (6 wickets, 26.1 overs) 93
FOW: 1-19, 2-19, 3-32, 4-47, 5-49, 6-84