Another busy weekend is scheduled ahead in Division One Section Two of the NCU as there are seven games planned for the three days of the weekend. With teams refreshed after the holiday period surely now the aim going into late July and early August is to set up promotion challenges and pull away from relegation battles as re-arranged fixtures come in thick and fast.

There is one match this Friday and it has the potential to be a cracker as Lurgan host Muckamore. Pollock Park is traditionally a batsman friendly venue and this might suit both teams well with both being able to boast powerful batting line-ups. The home team managed to scrape a rain-affected victory against Laurelvale last week in a two night affair and will be looking at home games as must win in their attempt to get straight back into Section One. Lurgan Professional and Captain Niranjan Godbole will be hoping to outwit his opposite number Indrajeet Kamtekar of Muckamore. Would this be the first match in the NCU where the two teams have been captained by their respective overseas professionals?

Lurgan are at home again on Saturday but their task is an even harder one as they host runaway league leaders Ballymena. After beating Saintfield last Friday Ballymena have now reached the halfway point of their campaign and have done so with an unblemished record to boot. One would feel that Lurgan’s fortunes in this game might be heavily dependant on how well they fared in the Friday fixture, but either way it is difficult to see how their bowling can make significant inroads into the strong Ballymena batting list. David Kennedy again led the way for the leaders against Saintfield as his unbeaten 103 was the mainstay of another big score before the Saints were spun out of it by Simon McDowell and Michael Taylor.

Muckamore’s Saturday game sees them travel to Downpatrick in a fairly important fixture for both teams given their league placing as the teams have only three and two wins respectively. I seem to be predicting on a regular basis that Downpatrick’s season will turn around soon, and perhaps it will after having a decent break over the holiday period when their only exertions were turning up (and winning) a bowl out in the Metal Technology Twenty/20 Cup meaning that the “Cricketers” at least have Finals Day to look forward to. However, Section Three is not as an attractive prospect so the home team will be hoping to play well. Two away trips over the weekend might be a slight hindrance to the hopes of Muckamore in this one; again the result on Friday might have a big impact on the mindset going into Saturday.

Woodvale have strong aspirations of second place and a return to Section One after a decent break from the top flight and will see the visit of Holywood as another decent test of where they stand. Depending on Friday’s result Lurgan may well have second place outright, so the Belfast men know that nothing less than a win here will do them. As with all the leading teams, Woodvale’s success to date has been built on some big batting contributions so it will be interesting to see how Holywood can cope. Both teams also have Sunday fixtures as well so neither will want their weekend getting off to a poor start.

The last league game scheduled for Saturday is Laurelvale against Saintfield in what could be a make or break double header weekend for the village team. Both teams had a poor weekend last time around with Laurelvale losing the two night match to Lurgan while Saintfield lost at both Ballymena and Dundrum either side of the 12th. Saying that though, the Saints are still a lot better off in the table than their opponents on Saturday with Laurelvale surely targeting this game as one they could potentially win to escape that second relegation zone spot. However, their Second team travel to Templepatrick in an Intermediate Cup Semi Final and given Laurelvale’s proud record in that competition it is fair to say that they will have a good team out for that one so there won’t be any holidays in the ‘Vale this weekend!

There might not be holidays in Laurelvale, but there will be plenty of decent Section Two action this weekend as the visit of Saintfield on Saturday is followed by the arrival of Woodvale on Sunday. Most teams enjoy their visit to the quiet Mullavilly Road ground as the pitches and outfield usually give rise to good batting. However, Laurelvale’s tricky attack can make things difficult, especially their professional Ranjit Pande, formerly known as the “Pune Express” albeit a title he now has to fight for with Armagh’s Charu Kulkarni. One feels that Laurelvale will have to call upon all of their guile and experience if they are to take anything from Sunday’s match as Woodvale will be looking to close the gap with Ballymena by winning both of their weekend games.

Sunday’s other fixture is an intriguing midtable battle as Holywood host Dundrum at the Seapark Oval in a fixture that looks particularly hard to call. Holywood are usually pretty competitive at home and have had quite a good break back to June 28th, but might find that two games in two days is a tough ask, especially after an away match at Woodvale on the Saturday. Dundrum on the other hand have no game on Saturday with Armagh being away for the weekend and also are coming into this game on the back of another fine derby success against Saintfield when professional Manoj Fernando rocked their world with four wickets and 37 not out in a fine all round display. Potentially a very close game.

The cricket might be very competitive around Section Two but there is a fun and friendly side to the action as well as the holiday week saw a couple of the local players and the Indian professionals enjoying a Crazy Golf Day at Dundonald and Greenacres. Muckamore’s Indrajeet Kamtekar, Armagh’s Charu Kulkarni and Derriaghy’s Kaushik “Alfie” Aphale all showed some delightful touch around the greens. However, it was the local players coming out on top, with Muckamore wicketkeeper-batsman Brian Dunlop narrowly defeating Armagh pair Simon Cardwell and Gareth McCarter while David Cardwell lagged behind. However, a good day was had by all.