Cricket: Seventh-place finish for Academy Cricket Club

The league table confirms that they finished in seventh place, but the postponement of their final fixture on Sunday probably deprived them of a fourth place spot.

“We fancied our chances of beating Lurgan on Sunday, and if we had done so we would have leap-frogged over them and Downpatrick into fourth spot,” confirmed club secretary, Jack Quinn.

“In a sense, that was a disappointing end to a successful season at the higher level, and although we will be losing our New Zealanders, Andre Halbert and Mitchell Atkins, we can look forward to next season with confidence, with so many promising lads coming through from the three Junior League sides,” he added.

Adam Wilson’s 4th XI is the most successful of these. Already assured of promotion in Junior League Section 5, they aim to secure the title this weekend when they complete their programme against Saintfield III.

“We are already assured of promotion, but a win against Saintfield would take us up as back-to-back champions, having been promoted last season also,” said Wilson.

Michael Warke’s 2nd XI finished sixth in a very competitive Junior 2, while Adam Sloan’s 3rd XI finished just one win short of promotion in Junior 5.

Meanwhile, Templepatrick Cricket Club will be holding its annual end-of-season awards night on Saturday, October 3 from 7pm to late at The Cloughan, Ballyclare.