North Fermanagh Cricket Club continued their winning run with a controlled and impressive display at Burndennett Cricket Club on Saturday.

Greg Piergrosse, once again, won the toss but for a change elected to bat first. David Mills (87) and Duncan Robertson (18) were entrusted to open the attack for NFCC and Greg’s confidence in them was rewarded.

Mills quickly got into his power-game striking the ball crisply to the boundary, with Robertson displaying his years of experience by rotating the strike and supporting Mills in putting on a super run-rate.

An opening partnership of 86 from the first 16 overs gave the Fermanagh team a great base to build from. After the dismissal of Robertson to a super catch, Matthew Morrison (11) came to the crease and continued to work well with Mills.

The introduction of C. McGettigan to the Burndennett bowling attack subsequently caused issues for the batters. His ability to turn the ball with ease made it difficult for the batters to gauge and wickets fell in each one of his overs. G. Piergrosse (14) and Ben Duffy (4) helped to add to the score between McGettigan’s overs.

After the dismissal of Piergrosse, Graeme Fitzpatrick (12) again came in to bat and, as with previous weeks, helped to steady the ship.

Dave Hardy (1*) and Graeme Fitzpatrick saw out the last of the McGettigan who finished on five wickets for 22 runs. In the final two overs, a partnership between Hardy and Gordon Fitzpatrick (2*), focused on seeing out the balls and making sure no further wickets were lost. NFFC finished their 30 overs on 156 for 8.

The NFCC bowling attack quickly got into their stride and the dismissal of two of the Burndennett opening batters for the loss of one run raised NFCC players’ hopes.

Mills caused the batters problems with the speed of his deliveries; wickets soon followed with catches being made by several fielders. A late withdrawal before the match saw James Smith, NFCC Chairman, coming out of retirement to once again don the Fermanagh colours and demonstrated that he still carries experience and style on the field.

Tight fielding from all the NFCC players restricted the batting team from establishing any rhythm to their run chase. Graeme’s opening over consisted of a wicket for the loss of no runs with the ball flying each time into the hands of his father Gordon at wicketkeeper.

A. Moore (22) was the only Burndennett batter that caused NFCC any issues, being able to find the boundary on a number of occasions with the ball glancing off his bat past the fielders. Burndennett’s final wicket was that of C. McGettigan (5), a powerful strike that went high into the air and was caught by Dylan Smith, an amazing first catch playing senior cricket.

Dylan displayed great skill throughout the game and his catch is just reward for all the effort and commitment he has shown in training week-on-week. Burndennett finished on 60 all out, after 17 overs. Man of the match was David Mills impressing with both bat and ball.

This coming Saturday, July 17, North Fermanagh return the favour and welcome Burndennett to the NFCC Grounds, Kesh. With restrictions for spectators now more relaxed, an enjoyable day’s cricket is on offer to players and visitors alike.

Training continues Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6.30pm at the ground in Kesh. Anyone interested in participating are welcome to attend and give cricket a go, experience is not required, and all are very welcome.

North Fermanagh Cricket Club youth weekly coaching sessions continue - Tuesdays at 5.30-6.30pm for 5-10 year olds and Thursdays 5.30-6.30pm for 11-16 year olds.

These sessions are free to and open to all who are interested – it was great to see lots of boys and girls down at the club last week enjoying learning about cricket from NFCC’s Cricket Ireland qualified coaches.

Anyone interested in learning more about cricket and having fun can contact North Fermanagh Cricket Club via Facebook and Instagram.