Johnny Morton

The runs were flowing in the Robinson Services senior leagues this past weekend with no fewer than five players hitting a century.

There were also some notable bowling performances over the past couple of days and those players are our Robinson Services Stars of the Weekend.

Premier League

Lee Nelson – Waringstown – 102 (vs CIYMS)

Waringstown sealed their 31st top-flight title this weekend after their 12-run win over defending champions CIYMS was followed up by North Down losing to Woodvale, and captain Nelson laid the foundations for the crucial victory.

Opening the batting alongside Adam Dennison, Nelson scored 102 from 105 balls, including 11 fours and three sixes, as Waringstown posted 275-8 at Belmont.

CI fell 12 runs short of their target and an honourable mention must go to Graham Hume (4-26) who will also pick up a Robinson Services award after taking a hat-trick.

Ruhan Pretorius – Woodvale – 102 (vs Instonians)

Pretorius has been on fire in the past few weeks and continued that form by scoring a century at Shaw's Bridge to help his side record a 31-run victory.

Coming in with the score at 36-1, Pretorius put on a stand of 52 with James Hall (45) before sharing a third-wicket partnership alongside Aditya Adey (39) as the Ballygomartin Road outfit were all out for 244.

Pretorius struck 12 fours and two maximums and picked up two wickets as Instonians ended on 213.

Alistair Shields – North Down – 106 (vs CSNI)

North Down skipper Shields scored a second century of the season on Saturday in what was ultimately a comfortable 65-run victory over CSNI.

After being inserted to bat, North Down were 91-2 after Aniruddha Chore (20) and Gayan Maneeshan (16) were both dismissed, but that brought Peter Eakin (79) to the crease alongside Shields and the pair put on a match-winning partnership of 114.

Shields scored his runs from 140 balls – eight fours, one six – before he was caught off the bowling of Ben Adair.

Josh Manley – Lisburn – 6-35 (inc hat-trick) (vs Carrickfergus)

The first bowler to appear on our list for this weekend is Lisburn seamer Josh Manley, who collected remarkable figures of 6-35 from 10 overs to help his side pick up a second Premier League win of the season.

Manley took the crucial wicket of Jeremy Lawlor and followed it up by trapping Michael Gilmour lbw before returning to reduce Carrick from 161-5 to 208 all out.

If that wasn't enough, Manley, who now has 29 wickets for the season, also collected a hat-trick meaning he will receive two Robinson Services awards for the same game!

Graeme McCarter – Carrickfergus – 103 (vs Lisburn)

McCarter was the shining light for Carrick in their innings, coming in at number four to strike a century from 131 deliveries.

His innings included nine fours and four sixes, batting for more than 40 overs to help drag his side up to 208 before he was last man out, bowled by Boyd Rankin.

He immediately struck with the ball to leave Lisburn 4-1 but a 127-run partnership between Robert Rankin (89) and captain Adam Berry (47) meant the visitors won by six wickets.

Section One

Max Burton – Cliftonville Academy – 172 (vs Bangor)

Cliftonville Academy have all but secured their spot in the Premier League for next season and a huge reason for that has been the splendid form of Max Burton.

The 20-year-old has been one of the standout performers in Section One and struck a massive century as Cliftonville Academy strolled to an impressive 251-run victory over Bangor.

Burton has went past 50 on six occasions with this his second hundred of the season and he will almost certainly be playing his cricket in the top-flight once again in 2022.

Jay Hunter – Cregagh – 100 (vs Donacloney Mill)

Another opening batsman that has had a superb season is Cregagh's Jay Hunter and he scored 100 on Saturday as their bid for a spot in the Premier League remained on course.

Batting first, Cregagh posted 246-7 with Hunter leading the way while being well supported by Craig Boultwood (63*) before Donacloney Mill were bowled out for 102.

Cregagh currently sit third, four points behind Derriaghy with a game in hand and a better run-rate than the Queensway side, and the promotion race is set to go right down to the wire.

Ethan Wilson – Muckamore – 6-14 (vs Saintfield)

Muckamore picked up a seventh league win of the season as they bowled Saintfield out for 101, largely thanks to Wilson's contribution of 6-14.

Saintfield had made a solid start at 62-2 from 19 overs before collapsing with Wilson taking the final six wickets of the innings to help seal a seven-wicket win.

The Moylena side were able to chase it down without much trouble as Ewan Wilson (53*) guided them home.