Bready are aiming to better perfection

IT’S a tough task, but Bready are hoping to better last season’s perfect league campaign.

How, you ask? Well, by having more success in the cup competitions.

Davy Scanlon’s men went through last season’s North West Premiership unbeaten to add a second title in the last few years to their names, but they were unable to transfer that form into the cup competitions, suffering defeat in two semis at Brigade in the T20 and against Eglinton in the Senior Cup.

However, to do that this year may prove even more difficult as they have been handed away ties in the NW Senior Cup at Glendermott and in the Irish Senior Cup against highly rated The Hills.

“It was disappointing to lose in the two semis when we were well set,” acknowledged Scanlon, who doesn’t want an unfortunate trophy presentation in 2022.

“Getting beaten in the semi-final and then receiving the league cup on the same day was a bittersweet feeling.

“The best team wins the league but a bit of luck can get you a cup and you always strive for consistency but it’s the only thing I haven’t won as a captain, so I want to get my hands on the Senior Cup, that’s a big aim this year.

“But unbeaten last year is something that hadn’t been seen, so it’s building on that and working towards that and adding a better cup run and getting to a cup final which would be quite good.”

The season starts this coming Saturday with the first of the Best Western White Horse Hotel T20 matches when Bready in Group D alongside Ballyspallen and Coleraine, entertain Ardmore. The Longs SuperValu 40 over league gets underway the following weekend, April 30th, when Bready entertain Strabane and Scanlon hopes his side can pick up a couple of early wins to build momentum to aid their bid to qualify for the top half in order to defend their Premier League title.

“If you get a couple of wins in the first couple of weekends it can set you off for a good season and if you don’t you’re looking at playing catch up,” he observed.

“But it’s not the end of the world if you were to lose your first or second one but it’s important to get into that top four and bring momentum into those fixtures against the other top sides.

“There’s a real importance in every game you play because you want to be in a good position, so momentum to take through would be good.”

Ahead of the start of the season, it’s been a case of one in and one out at Bready with under-age Ireland international Scott MacBeth joining from St Johnston, while Steve Lazars has left.

And while happy with his own side’s recruitment, Scanlon knows other sides have been busy too, with Ardmore drafting in two overseas players, Brigade strengthening after a winter of European action in Spain, while ex-international Gary Neely has joined Donemana to add more experience at The Holm and Jared Wilson has joined Newbuildings from Ardmore.

“Scott comes with a massive pedigree having played in the Under-19 World Cup in the Caribbean in the summer, so we’re hoping he fits into Steve’s role and takes over where Steve left off,” he said.

“Everyone else, the younger boys, they are a year older and they will really step up this year hopefully.

“Brigade have a pre-season under them with playing in Spain, so they will hit the ground running, but all teams seem to have done some work during the pre-season, there have been a few moves and a couple of teams will be a lot stronger than last season, which is good for the competition.”

It was a trophyless 2021 for Donemana, but skipper William McClintock is determined to get the Holm club back to winning ways this season. With Andy McBrine’s availability likely to be severely impacted by a busy international season from the end of June onwards, it’s going to be difficult for the club to sustain a consistent league challenge, but they are always a threat in the cup competitions.

They welcome back former Irish international Gary Neely, who will certainly strengthen their pace bowling options. The club have been frustrated thus far in their attempts to secure an overseas professional, and it looks likely that they will have to start the season without one, but hope to have it resolved sooner rather than later.

“We are all looking forward to the season and hoping to improve on a disappointing one last year,” skipper McClintock told The Chronicle.

“Our expectations are the same as every year, in that we hope to be competing for the league and all the cups so nothing has changed there. We are trying hard to get a professional as we’ve been let down by a few so far due to them not being able to fully commit to a full season, but we hope to have signed one very soon.”

Strabane had a successful 2021 winning the Eric Cooke cup and losing a thriller against Glendermott in the Sammy Jeffrey final.

The Red Caps have the same squad as last year, and are boosted by the availability of all-rounder Ehtesham Ahmed for the entire campaign.

“We’re going into this season full of confidence, hoping to build on what we achieved last year,” said skipper Aaron Gillespie. “We have been training hard and our pre-season is going really well to date.

“We have a good core group of players and it has been bolstered with the signing of ‘Shami’ who we know is a very good player and also excited with the experience that he’ll bring to the team, that will no doubt add the extra little that we were missing at times last season.

“As for the younger players, Tom Harpur and Conor Graham have improved year on year and it’s exciting to see the strides they made coming into senior cricket. No doubt they’ll continue to do that in the years going forward.”

Fox Lodge just missed out on silverware in 2021 but the return of Marco Marais gives them cause for great optimism ahead of the new season. The South African batsman was a consistent and heavy run scorer in his previous time at the Foxies and his presence will add some quality and stability to their batting.

Aaron Heywood is once again captain, and he has the benefit of a truly settled squad which has retained their personnel from last season. I’m really looking forward to getting started,” said Heywood

“The longer format is where we want to leave our mark this season and with Marco coming back we feel that he will bring out the best in the others. There will be a lot of hard work and graft required from the boys to get to where we want to be.

“Competition for places is strong and we will hopefully have Dean McCarter back fit for the season which is another boost to the squad. Other than that it’s much the same and for me that is a good thing, I don’t like chopping and changing so I’m happy with where we are at.

“We have a fairly youthful squad again this year and I don’t want to single any of them out, I’d like to see them all move up a gear and make themselves comfortable at this level. We will give all the competitions a good go and enjoy our cricket whilst doing so, that’s for sure.”

Burndennett are another side experiencing problems with their overseas player and have been thrown into a last minute search to try and acquire a quality replacement. Marty Mehaffey is captain once again, and despite the loss of Gary Neely the squad is much the same as in recent years.

Another side who are always competitive are Killyclooney, particularly on their own patch, and with their youthful squad a year older, will fancy themselves to be a real handful for sides, especially on their own turf.

FIXTURES
Saturday, April 23rd
BW White Horse Hotel T20
Eglinton v Bonds Glen
Donemana v Glendermott
Brigade v Burndennett
Bready v Ardmore
Fox Lodge v Killyclooney
Ballyspallen v Coleraine
Strabane v Johnston
(2pm)