Coleraine Firsts end thirty years of hurt

The Sandel Lodge outfit produced a dominant display to see off Bready and set up a mouthwatering final with Cup kingpins Donemana, who are going for a fifth win in a row.

With bad weather not to far away Coleraine didn’t hesitate to stick Bready in to bat when skipper Campbell won the toss. The new ball pairing of Jarred Barnes and ex-Ireland international Gordon Cooke wrecked havoc straight away.

The first wicket fell to Barnes who knicked off Andrew Austin with a smart catch from Niall McDonnell then it was the Cooke show. He blew away the top order dismissing the in form David Rankin for seven, Wallace for 0, Kyle Hamilton for nine, and Scanlon and Jamie Magee for ducks to leave Bready reeling at 44-6.

There was a mini revival with Crumley and Barr ptting on a 23 run partnership until Barr played across the line to Campbell and then Crumey soon fell to teenager Varun Chopra. Campbell and Chopra soon picked up the last two wickets to bowl Bready out for 90.

Coleraine openers Niall McDonnell and Tim Chopra batted patiently together. McDonnell seems to back to his former self at the top of the order scoring 33 of 32 balls. He fell to Lucas after a brilliant catch by the Bready pro.

However, there was to be no let up from the Bannsiders as Rishi joined his uncle Tim in the midde and this pair finished off the game inside 20 overs. Tim finished on 35 not out and Rishi 14 not out.

The relief was evident from the Coleraine players as they ended the pain of the last five years and also a 30-year wait since they last reached a senior cup final.

The final will be held at Strabane cricket club on July 29th and 30th.