Templepatrick ace writes name into history books after picking up all 10 wickets in Section One triumph
Templepatrick star Sam O’Mahony has written his name into the history books of local cricket after remarkably collecting all 10 wickets in Saturday’s Section One victory over Lurgan – a triumph which puts the County Antrim outfit in pole position for Premier League promotion.
O’Mahony joined The Cloughan side as their overseas player ahead of the current campaign and has had an immediate impact by scoring 380 league runs at an average of 47.5 and also blasted 152 in the National Cup against North Kildare, but it was this weekend’s bowling exploits which will be forever remembered.
In a meeting between Section One’s top-two sides, the Tasmanian all-rounder kicked proceedings off by bowling Jack Maxwell with his third delivery of the afternoon and by the 12th over had already secured the match ball having collected five wickets.
However, O’Mahony wasn’t content on stopping there and went on to collect all 10 Lurgan scalps, finishing with astonishing figures of 10/13 from eight overs as the opposition were dismissed for 39 – he collected his final five wickets for just three runs.
Tracking back through historical records, it appears the last player to take a 10-fer in NCU senior cricket was Carrickfergus’ Robin Beggs in 1985 – ironically that came against Templepatrick – while CricketEurope’s Ger Siggins reported William Kirkpatrick also achieved the feat for Dunmurry in 1950.
The thumping victory now means Ross Bryans’ side sit top of the Section One table by 12 points with five matches to play while six teams are all tied on 28 points.
Elsewhere, Ruhan Pretorius’ third half-century of the Premier League season helped Woodvale maintain their position at the summit with a 60-run triumph over newly-crowned Challenge Cup champions Muckamore.
Pretorius has enjoyed a golden summer for the Ballygomartin Road outfit, moving beyond the 1,000-run milestone for the fourth time in nine seasons, while he has also struck four centuries.
His Premier League run tally now stands at 632 for the campaign with Adam Dennison (486) in second and Lisburn overseas professional Faiz Fazal (483) third.
Waringstown, who have one game in hand on Woodvale, continue to assert significant pressure on their rivals after Matthew Halliday (73*) led from the front as Greg Thompson’s side defeated Cliftonville Academy by nine wickets.
Elsewhere, Carrickfergus sit bottom of the table after losing out by five wickets to fellow relegation contenders Instonians.
Inst celebrated winning their first Premier League title since 2016 last season but are fighting at the other end this time around and took a giant step towards safety as Cade Carmichael (73) starred in their successful chase of 187.
In the other bottom-four clash, half-centuries from Marc Ellison (76*) and Jordan Neill (75) helped CSNI breathe a bit more comfortably after they defeated CIYMS by five wickets, despite Ross Adair’s (82) best efforts.
Meanwhile, Lisburn remain fifth after Fazal (83*) and Jonny Waite (57) ensured there would be no drama as they chased North Down’s total of 169 with minimal fuss – Ireland international Mark Adair had earlier collected figures of 3/17.