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Club News, Match Reports and Results
31st December 2018
🏏 Happy New Year!
As 2018 draws to a close, a few thoughts on the year just past. A momentous year for the club as we played our first season in Premier League cricket for 60 years. While it maybe didn’t go as well at times as we might hoped, the club did itself proud on and off the field with every player giving everything they had. Winning our first Premier League game at Muckamore and hosting our first ever Irish Senior Cup fixture on the Mall are memories that will live long in the memory. A big thanks to our players, supporters, sponsors and members for all of their efforts through 2018 as we couldn’t achieved what we did without them.
Rest-assured will be back and raring to go in the 2019 season. In the meantime, there is plenty going on at the club over the winter months with regular Poker nights, our hugely successful Dart team, Pilates and Slimming World in the Pavilion as well as the bar open every Friday and Saturday night with Happy Hours as advertised.
In the meantime, the bar is open this evening from 7.00pm as we bring in 2019. Happy New Year everyone!
5th December 2018
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At last nights Gallagher Insurance Challenge Cup Draw, Armagh were given another tough looking away tie against last years losing finalists Civil Service North, to be played at Stormont. Representing Armagh was star all-rounder Harry Boyd pictured here with Shane Matthews of sponsors Gallagher and Richard Johnson representing the Northern Cricket Union.
21st November 2018
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One from the archives as George Breakey and Noel Humphries stride out to open the innings on the Mall! Our thoughts are with George and all the Breakey family as he continues his treatment.
21st October 2018
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Delighted to confirm that the magnificent Mall has again been graded as a Level 1 Ground from the 2018 reports. Huge appreciation to our volunteer groundstaff of Ian Mitchell, Kenny Gordon, Norman Graham, Allenby Burgess, David Courtney and last but by no means least, Eric Davidson.
22nd September 2018
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Good work on the Mall this morning as a small group of players led by head groundsman Norman Graham were able to finish the essential end of season ground work. Many thanks to the ground team for their fantastic efforts in the 2018 season!
3rd September 2018
🏏 Report
Armagh's relegation from the Robinson Services Premier League was finally confirmed on Sunday…
First up at Stormont CSNI batted first and scored 180-4 with impressive contributions from McMorran, Ellison and Topping. Best with the ball for Armagh were Michael Hoey and Neil Gelston, while Andrew Hoey and Harry Boyd also had success. Michael Hoey claimed his 100th senior wicket for Armagh in the game.
In reply, Armagh were never really at the races and finished with 98-4 after a ponderous reply. Colin Russell was undefeated with 40* while receiving support from both Hoey brothers with Michael scoring 15 and younger sibling Andrew making 16. The final margin of defeat was 82 runs.
A quick dash across East Belfast took Armagh to Belmont to take on champions CIYMS who changed their mind and decided that they would bat first. Their professional McGillivray received an amazing reprieve when on 7 when he cleary edged Hoey behind to McCarter but umpire McClean was unmoved. The first breakthrough for Armagh went to Ben Mackey who bowled Matchett with a lovely swinging delivery but the beleaguered visitors had a long wait for another. Pro McGillivray and home captain and former Ireland international Nigel Jones proceeded to smash the bowling to all parts with only some spectacular Armagh fielding keeping the score down. Matthew Wright claimed a wicket that his efforts deserved when he had Jones well caught on the boundary by Rogers for 72 off just 34 balls. Pro McGillivray finished unbeaten on 98, just 91 more than when he should have been given out as CIYMS racked up 204-2.
The response from Armagh was naturally fairly limited and followed a similar pattern to the first game. Boyd was best with 24 while a couple of others made it to double figures. Unfortunately Armagh did not quite make it to three figures though with the margin of defeat ending up at 107 runs.
With the long inevitable relegation finally confirmed Armagh have little choice but to stick together and hope to rebuild confidence again next summer in Section 1. Their players should take heart from plenty of spirited performances and individual improvements in the highest league in NCU cricket, much of which was done without a professional after the early exit for Shadley van Schalkwyk.
11th August 2018
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Two of Armagh Cricket Club’s most legendary players making their NCUPL debuts!
3rd Agust 2018
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On Saturday 19th May Armagh CC played in their first ever Bob Kerr Irish Senior Cup March at home to Balbriggan. While the result didn’t go our way, playing in Ireland elite cup competition was something we never imagined possible.
Thanks to Allen Patton for some fabulous photos from the day and to our white ball sponsors RJ Alarms, Woolsey Slats, Rockview Kitchens and BLK Ireland.
23rd July 2018
🏏 Photos
A few photos from Saturday's Premier League game against Muckamore, where Shadley van Schalkwyk scored a memorable 142
24th June 2018
🏏 Final match of T20 campaign
Armagh lose out despite Van Schalkwyk blitz…
Armagh’s campaign in the Lagan Valley Steels T20 competition came to an end on Friday night with another defeat to Instonians after a hugely encouraging performance with the ball and in the field was backed up by a special innings from professional Shadley van Schalkwyk who hit a memorable unbeaten century. The home side batted first and racked up 155-6 in their twenty overs despite wickets for Van Schalkwyk, Wright, two for the excellent Doyle and one each for the spinners Hoey and Gelston thanks to tidy work behind the stumps from wicketkeeper McCarter. The target was an imposing one certainly and the Instonians pace attack were making regular breakthroughs in the Armagh batting. Undeterred, Van Schalkwyk moved steadily through the gears and found support from Boyd, Doyle and then Wright. The home side became increasingly nervous as the runs required deceased and as the South African star recorded a fantastic century. Alas, Armagh had left themselves with just too much to do as Instonians prevailed by just seven runs but there could be no doubt who was the star of the proceedings with an unbeaten 111.
Armagh finished their T20 campaign with 5 defeats and one no-result from the six group games but the improvement and competitiveness of the team was clear to see in most of the games. Hopefully that can be carried through to the difficult Premier League campaign.
28th May 2018
🏏 A Disappointing Weekend for Armagh.
Another tough weekend for Armagh unfolded as they lost to CIYMS and Instonians…
The Challenge Cup tie always looked tough away to the competition holders and Matthew Steenson had no hesitation to bat first on winning the toss. Another poor start followed with Armagh being reduced to 30-5. Professional Shadley van Schalkwyk found an ally in Andrew Hoey as Armagh were finally able to build a bit of a partnership as the away side were finally dismissed for 102 with South African Irish international Jacob Mulder taking 5 wickets with his leg-spin. In response Armagh bowled well with two wickets for Matthew Wright and one for Harry Doyle giving Armagh a bit of daylight at 48-3 but CIYMS Captain Nigel Jones and Hunter were able to put on an unbeaten partnership to seal a seven wicket win for the Home team.
Sunday's T20 game on the Mall was played in front of a decent crowd for the 3pm start in glorious sunshine and again Armagh batted first after winning the toss. A decent start was tempered with the quick wickets of Gelston, Van Schalkwyk and Steenson but Jamie Rogers and Andrew Hoey paired well to bring the Armagh score on. Hoey departed for another well made 20 while Rogers recorded his season best of 35 with some great shots. Armagh moved beyond the 100 thanks to some super late shots from Samuel Wilson who ended unbeaten on 39 as Armagh scored 121-9 in their 20 overs.
Instonians looked surprisingly edgy in response with Harry Doyle picking up a big pair of early wickets in Smith and Getkate. A partnership formed between Metcalfe and former Ireland player Andrew White with the former particularly harsh on anything loose. White departed when he was well caught behind by McCarter off the spin bowling of Neil Gelston and Armagh were in with a real chance. Unfortunately for the city side, the prodigious teenage talent of Oliver Metcalfe played an innings beyond his years as he scored 73, only being dismissed by Wilson when the scores were tied. Instonians crept home by 4 wickets with only an over to spare.
Armagh captain Matthew Steenson was encouraged by what his team had shown over the weekend. ‘We certainly fought harder this weekend than last and put up some decent performances with bat and ball. It’s a real learning curve but we are moving in the right direction. Match sponsors for this weekend were Jimmy George and Dennis Mercer, thanks to them for their continued support.
This weekend Armagh host in-form CSNI on Friday evening in the T20 on the Mall before travelling to Carrick on Saturday for a crucial Robinson Services Premier League game.
30th April 2018
🏏 Armagh Return to the Premier League with a Win
Steenson's men excel at Moylena to start in the best possible fashion…
Armagh Cricket Club made a great start in the Robinson Services Premier League on Saturday 28th April when they defeated Muckamore. The last time Armagh played in the top flight of NCU cricket was 1955 some 63 years ago.
After a long winter of indoor nets at the Royal School under the watchful eye of new Head Coach Bruce Topping the Armagh side were eager to get the season started and they certainly didn’t disappoint on the big stage. Armagh captain Matthew Steenson lost the toss to which Muckamore unsurprisingly elected to bowl first on what was a green and soft wicket after the recent inclement weather.
Neil Gelston and Jamie Rogers opened the innings with both working really hard in difficult conditions to rotate the strike and running hard between the wickets when the opportunity arose. Gelston would be the first to fall, bringing Sammy Wilson to the crease who also battled hard against the new ball with the pitch at its most lively. Wilson looked to be in good form until misjudging one from the Muckamore skipper Gill and being bowled. This brought Armagh’s new South African professional Shadley van Schalkwyk to the wicket and the all-rounder wasted no time striking two boundaries in his first over, immediately finding a fluency that no other batsmen found easy.
Colin Russell and Matthew Steenson looked to bat in a supporting role to the increasingly dominant Van Schalkwyk and help push the score beyond 150. Both of the middle order batters were dismissed for 18 runs trying to attack the death bowling of the home side. Van Schalkwyks fifty was brought up after smashing the part time off-spin of Sammy Gordon for two sixes in the same over. A wonderful debut innings from Van Schalkwyk ended prematurely on 56 when he looked to go straight and was caught and bowled by a fantastic catch from opening bowler Gary Nicholl, but the Armagh players and supporters got a glimpse of how good their new professional could potentially be. Michael Hoey and Alan Whitcroft showed some good pace running important singles to get Armagh to a competitive total of 171-8 from their 50 overs. Armagh captain Matthew Steenson was pretty happy with this total considering conditions he was confident his bowling attack would be able to defend the total.
Ben Mackey looked to start where he left off after his remarkable debut season and he certainly didn’t disappoint taking the first Premier League wicket for the side with Craig Drummond perhaps slightly unfortunate to be trapped leg before wicket. Van Schalkwyk and Mackey looked to be in great rhythm causing the home side problem as they looked to score and the youngster picked a second when he bowled Stephenson with a superb inswinging delivery. Not to be outdone, Van Schalkwyk picked up his first of hopefully many NCU wickets when he clean bowled left hander Gordon with an unplayable peach of a ball. At this stage Muckamore attempted to rebuild their innings from the carnage of 16-3 with Armagh cock-a-hoop with their early success but although Knights squad player Jamie Magowan and Adey added almost fifty for the 4th wicket it wasn’t without chance. Eventually they ran out of lives as a poorly called run was pounced upon by Gelston who returned to wicketkeeper McCarter to run out Adey for 23. The Gelston-McCarter partnership worked again in the next over as Muckamores Australian recruit Millar edged just his third ball behind to the keeper who caught safely. Home skipper Gill looked to dig in and recover but was trapped leg before by the rampant Gelston who was cleverly bowling from around the wicket to cramp up any space. Any last chance of a Muckamore revival ended in the same over as Magowan came down the wicket to Gelston who seen him coming and spun the ball down the leg-side where Gareth McCarter completed a brilliant stumping. Gelston finished with excellent figures of 3-21 from his ten overs. Muckamore battled as best they could but Van Schalkwyk returned to make a mess of Ashwin Shettys stumps while Nicholl faced the same fate off the bowling of Sam Wilson. It was left to Wilson to have the final say as Keates completely misjudged a swinging delivery and let it hit him right in front of middle stump allowing Armagh to celebrate wildly as they completed their first Premier League win by the relatively comfortable margin of 70 runs.
Armagh captain Matthew Steenson was a proud man after the game. “No-one really gave us much of a chance this year at all and we have won our first game away from home. We trained hard from January with Bruce and I telling the squad that if we worked hard and believed in ourselves then we wouldn’t let ourselves down. We aren’t going to get carried away with one win but its proven to the lads not to get obsessed with the standard. We know this weekend will be a whole new level of toughness but we just have to try and rise to it and compete. Credit to our top three on Saturday because Muckamore stuck us in thinking they might roll us over but we were given a platform to get the competitive score because the guys dug-in. Our bowlers were all excellent and didn’t allow Muckamore the chance to break loose and even the guys who didn’t pick wickets kept things tight. The fielding stood up well and while we know we have lots to work on it’s a start we can all be proud of. Hopefully we get a bit of support on Saturday on the Mall against Waringstown”.
Saturdays match ball was generously sponsored by David Courtney.
Robinson Services Premier League
Armagh 171-8 - Van Schalkwyk 56. Nicholl 3-21.
Muckamore 101 all out - Gelston 3-21, Wilson 2-11, Van Schalkwyk 2-15, Mackey 2-22.
Armagh win by 70 runs
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