NORTH Down booked their place in the next round of the Gallagher Challenge Cup thanks to a four-wicket win away at Cregagh on Saturday.
Having won the toss, North Down elected to bowl first and, although early wickets were not taken, new look opening duo Peter Davison and Tom Crothers kept the scoring rate very much under control.
The introduction of spin proved the key move as Ally Shields and Liam Hayman quickly got to work and made the initial breakthrough with debutant James Shields taking a superb catch off the bowling of Ally Shields to dismiss Matthew Simpson for 17.
The home side then collapsed from a solid start as wickets continued to fall at regular intervals despite the resistance to Bob Moore, who scored 22 from 55 balls before he was run out by Ryan Haire with the score on 107. Haire then came into the bowling attack himself and accounted for the final two wickets with Cregagh bowled out for 112.
The pick of the bowlers was Ally Shields who finished his 10-over spell with superb figures of 5-16. Liam Hayman and Ryan Haire took two wickets each.
Given that both Mo Aahil and James Shannon were unavailable for this fixture, North Down took the opportunity to experiment with their batting order in the second innings. Steven Saul (39) opened with Tom Crothers, who was dismissed early with the score on just nine.
Stuart Nelson (18) steadied the ship with Saul as the pair put together a 57-run partnership for the second wicket before Nelson was well caught by the Cregagh skipper to leave North Down 66-2.
Youngsters Drew Parker and James Shields were given a chance to bat up the order in 1st XI cricket for the first time but neither were able to hang around particularly long. Saul was also dismissed during a purple patch for the Section One side as the score moved to 71-5.
Under normal circumstances, a potential cup upset may have been on the cards but with the experience of Shields (23) and Ani Chore (18*) still to come North Down were able to move comfortably towards the modest target set by the hosts.
Shields was caught on the boundary attempting to finish the match off in style and Liam Hayman, batting at number eight, was required to score the winning runs in the 27th over. The man of the match award was rightly presented to Shields after the game for his superb contribution with the ball.
North Down travel to Muckamore this Saturday in the Premier League followed by a trip to Balbriggan in the Irish Senior Cup on Sunday.
Cregagh 112 (40.4 overs, B Moore 22, A Shields 5-16, L Hayman 2-17, R Haire 2-10)
North Down 116-6 (26.2 overs, S Saul 39, A Shields 23, G Hassard 3-22)
North Down beat Cregagh by 4 wickets
