The Under 13 cricket team had a very successful year which ended with silverware, lifting the trophy in the Plate final. The team was captained by William McLaughlin with Josh Martin acting as vice. The season started after the Easter break with practice after school on a Wednesday seeing a high turnout every week. Our first game unfortunately was the first round of the Schools’ Cup and with no match practice in the run up to the big game, rustiness with the bat was evident in the 36 run defeat to a strong Strabane Academy side. Strabane batted first, the fielding and bowling from Limavady was extremely tight, led by example from the skipper William as he took 3 wickets. The skipper also took a hit to the chest in cover. He flung himself at the ball but got right back up and didn’t even wince which set the tone and fielding standards for the rest of the season. However a rusty batting performance saw us short of the target set by Strabane.
Next up was a league game against Ballymena which resulted in a first victory for the side. Once again the fielding and bowling proved to be a real strength from the team as they restricted Ballymena to 76 with Jacob Blair getting a hat trick with the ball taking 4 wickets in total. Josh Martin led the reply with the bat with 20 not out as Limavady won by 5 wickets. The Plate semi-final against Coleraine was next and LGS batted first setting a superb total of 115-4 off 20 overs. Jacob Blair (26) and Kian O’Doherty (20) got the team off to a strong start with their opening partnership, which was beginning to gel. As with the previous games, bowling and fielding was excellent as they restricted Coleraine to 94-5 with man of the match Jacob Blair taking a wicket maiden in the very first over ably supported by Tom Howe finishing with figures with 2-13 off his 4 overs. No rest for the side as a league game the very next day away to Carrick followed. Carrick batted first and as usual, LGS performed well in the field with Carrick finishing on 93-9 with wickets shared by Jacob, Tom and Kian. A well-measured run chase led by Thomas Ferguson with 36 not out supported by Josh with 18 allowed Limavady to chase the total to win by 7 wickets. Sullivan was next on the radar for the side however a strong batting performance from Sullivan ensured victory for them and a first defeat for LGS since the Strabane game.
Last game of the season was the Plate final against Enniskillen, who won the toss and decided to bowl first. The opening partnership of Jacob (31 not out) and Kian (22) came to the fore again as they put on 70 runs in 11 overs for the first wicket. This platform enabled the team to push their total to 121-3. Bowling was extremely tight, yet again, given the pressure of a final but the team excelled, bowling Enniskillen out for 45. Jacob with 1-5 off 3, Josh with 2-9 off 3, Tom with 2-1 off 3, William with 2-4 off 4 and Kian with 3-3 off 3. All that was left was for the skipper William to lift the trophy aloft.
The entire squad’s enthusiasm and their team bond shone all season which will stand them in good stead for the seasons ahead. The dedication to training was evident by the improvement in their skills and I would encourage them all to keep this attribute of hard work in training, both at school and club level, to further their cricket success.
Mr J McCready
