01
Jul

1 AND 2 FOR 3’S AT WEEKEND

Cliftonville Academy 3rds undertook a double header this weekend and came out successfully with 2 wins from 2 very tough games.
Saturday the thirds were away to North Down 3’s on a beautiful afternoon the 3s got to experience playing on the main square at comber and after losing the toss and fielding the trueness of the pitch was evident early on as North down raced away to 39 for none from the first 5 overs. This was as good as it got for North down as Cacc’s bowlers made inroads into a strong North Down line up and all of the bowlers stood up and bowled well with wickets for Stevie Fettis, Adam Wilson, Darrell Martin , Matty Jess , who bowled with pace and control taking key wickets, and young Olly Scott who bowled with pace and beat the bat regularly bamboozling the experienced Davy Napier by moving the ball both ways Colin Salt was as dependable as always and this concerted bowling effort limited North Down to 133 from 25 overs which most felt was well below par on what was a great batting wicket.
After a quck turnaround Cacc set off in pursuit of the total and got off to a flyer with Robert Scott and Ian Latham clinically despatching anything loose to the boundary with regular ease. Despite a bit of a wobble in the middle overs when Ian Latham was out caught behind for 56 Cacc were not to be denied a deserved win as Adrian o’Connor and Matt Jess showed their experience and composure to get the boys over the line.
Sunday seen a much changed CACC thirds travel to fullerton park to take on a strong Cooke Collegians team who, as is the norm, had their side filled with 1sts players. the Skipper lost the toss ( 3 in a row) and again CACC found themselves fielding first. A good start was needed and this was supplied by Jason Roe and Stevie Fettis who bowled exceptionally with Jason setting the tone with 2 Wickets in his first over and Cooke found themselves in trouble at 30 for 5 of the first 14 overs , Jason Roe taking 4 wickets showing why he is rated so highly bowling with great pace, control and constantly swing the ball. Cooke , were never to be allowed into the game and finished all out in their innings for 113 with wickets taken by Roe, the skipper, Andy Martin who bowled a great spell of spin bowling , Fettis, Wilson and Aaron Heatly taking his first wicket for CACC .
The Batting was just as impressive with a positive start from Phil kane and ben Rainey putting Cooke on the back foot from ball 1 and not letting any of the bowlers settle. Phil was the first of only 3 wickts to tall and his departure brought in ‘ The Boss’ Mark Shields who batted aggressively in reaching a very quick 50 that killed the game off for cooke collegians.

The weekend started as a must win weekend for the 3s and finished with Job Done and the boys have earned a well deserved week off to recharge their batteries for the remaining matches of the season