Thirds end 21-year Minor Cup wait

Choosing to bowl first, Ballymena's opening bowlers, Dean Gordon and Fergus Taylor, restricted the Bangor scoring, beating the outside edge on numerous occasions but failing to make the breakthrough.

It was young leg spinner, Ethan Archer who finally claimed the first wicket, bowling opener Elliot for 9.

Bangor continued to build steadily, moving on to 63 before Trevor McBurney cleaned bowled Andrews for 31.

Quick work from Johnny Holmes and Andy Lytle saw the Bangor number four run out for two and the ball before the drinks break, Dean Gordon held a good catch to send Bangor's big-hitting number five back to the pavilion.

Hutchinson might well have been given out caught behind off Andy Craig but he survived only a few balls more before being caught behind off Trevor McBurney who finished with the impressive figures of 2 for 17 off 10 overs.

Andy Craig then produced the 'champagne moment' of the game when, with one stump to aim at, he ran out Bangor's number seven with a direct hit leaving the County Down men at 83 for 6.

They staged a brief recovery but struggled to score quickly as Holmes and Craig kept them tied down.

The reintroduction of Gordon and Taylor to the attack soon brought the innings to a close as the last four wickets fell for 14 runs. This was by far the best bowling and fielding display of the season and at tea, Ballymena were firmly in the driving seat.

Lytle and Taylor made a solid start in reply but skipper Lytle was out to an uncharacteristically sloppy shot for four with the score on 28. Phil Harshaw joined Taylor and they added 22 before Taylor was out lbw for 31.

Dean Gordon was bowled for 7, bringing Brian McGookin to the crease. He soon set about dispatching the Bangor bowlers to all parts and hit 27 off 30 balls before being brilliantly caught on the boundary.

Harshaw was unlucky to be given out lbw to a ball he had hit but this left Trevor McBurney (10*) and Nicholas Jolly (12*) to bring the team home to victory.

Jolly, a runner-up last season hit the winning runs with a well struck boundary.

Fergus Taylor was named Man of the Match for his 31 runs and 2 wickets for 17 runs but it was a great team performance with both bat and ball which brought the Minor Cup back to Eaton Park for the first time since 1989.

Thirds: A Lytle, F Taylor, P Harshaw, D Gordon, B McGookin, T McBurney, N Jolly, R McNeill, A Craig, J Holmes, E Archer. 12th man: J Archer. Scorer: C Jackson

Ballymena bowling figures: D Gordon 10-1-25-1; F Taylor 8.5-1-17-2; E Archer 5-0-23-1; T McBurney 10-2-17-2; A Craig 10-3-26-1; J Holmes 6-1-15-0.