Staci Maxwell (NCU Domestic Committee)

Gardiner Brothers Women's Division 1. 20.5.19
North Down's 2's hosted Instonians ladies on a very damp Monday evening. Instonians were first to bat. Their openers batted well, both Rachel Campbell and Laura Milliken finished unbeaten. Campbell with 25 N.O and Milliken with 31 N.O. Both teams struggled with a high number of extras being given to the opposition.  North Down went in to their batting innings Anna Dunlop batted patiently, however was eventually bowled by Julie Logan. Kirsten Hewitt provided temporary resistance playing well and finishing on 28 N.O. North Down batted out their innings but were beaten by 3 runs.

Milliken finished with figures of 2-30.
Carrickfergus hosted Holywood Aces in their first game of the season at Middle Road. Carrickfergus' openers both batted well. Lois Passmore (31) and Kerry Mcllroy 37 N.O setting up for a brilliant opening partnership. In reply Ellen Buckland played well for the Aces obtaining 28 with the bat. Captain Laura Caughey (1-5), with the ball, was vital to Carrickfergus posting their first win of the season. They beat Holywood Aces by 47 runs.

Gardiner Brothers Women's Premier League 26.05.19
CSNI ladies travelled to the Lawn to face Waringstown in their first match of the season. This followed their win over Lurgan, which didn't see a ball bowled, due to player availability for Lurgan. With Waringstown still on a high from their season opener against North Down, CSNI had work to do. CSNI batted first and opener Ali Cowan set the standard by scoring 65*. Unfortunately there was no one in the Civil Service middle order able to support Cowan until Jemima Thomas came in to bat, who scored a crucial 20*. Charlotte Lyons once again proved her worth on the bowling front finishing with figures of 2-7.

In reply Lyons hard work over the winter was evident as she was once again the anchor of the Waringstown team. Batting well to finish with 35. The CSNI bowling attach was out in full force with no less than four bowlers getting at least 2 wickets. Abbi Leckey and Jemima Thomas both took 2 wickets and Aisling Healy and Camille Woods getting 3 each. The match finished with a 51 run win for CSNI.

Gallagher's Women's Challenge Cup
Due to the poor weather during the week, two of the Cup matches over the weekend were unable to go ahead and are being rearranged.
Waringstown hosted CSNI. Waringstown were looking for redemption after losing to CSNI in the league previously. CSNI batted first, opener Rachel Thomas was out early following an LBW appeal by Naomi Costley. Thankfully for CSNI Ali Cowan batted the duration of the Civil innings scoring 54 not out. New comer Camille Woods was there to support Cowan by scoring an important 23 not out. Not much can be said of the Waringstown bowlers due to the dominance of the Civil batters. Waringstown came out knowing they needed to start well to challenge the CSNI total of 112.

It didn't take long for CSNI captain Abbi Lecky to make a break through, getting Charlotte Lyons out in the first over. Fellow opener Naomi Matthews tried to keep Waringstown in with a shout by scoring a patient 37. Sadly, the Waringstown middle order were unable to provide support. The job wasn't made any easier by the tight bowling of Civil Service. Abbi Lecky took 2-19 and Camille Woods took 1-13. CSNI finished with a 26 run win.
 
(Ali Cowan)

 (Naomi Matthews)

In the other game of the day Carrickfergus travelled to Muckamore in what would be a high scoring match. Muckamore batted first posting a total of 199 in their 20 overs. Carrick started well by getting out the Muckamore openers relatively cheaply. However, Keates and Caulfield came in at 3&4 and dominated the rest of the innings. Both Batters finished unbeaten. Keates with 83 and Caulfield with 68.

Sadly the Carrickfergus batters were unable to put up any resistance against the Muckamore bowling attack. Sarah Keates bowled well obtaining 2 Carrick wickets for 8 runs. However, Carrick batters, Harpur and Cochrane were able to finish unbeaten and bat out the remainder of the Carrick overs. Muckamore progress to the next round of the cup following a 152 run win.