...but when it comes to cricket the Instonians team is as popular as any team in the Premier Section. They certainly have a popular skipper in Neil Russell and their victory over Waringstown in last Saturday's league decider proves that nice guys sometimes win.
Big Russeller is in the twilight of a cricket career that has yielded a plethora of successes at both Instonians and North Down, but this win at the helm will stand head and shoulders above all others. And just to hammer home his contribution on the field the attacking opener hit 80 to win from the front against the formidable Villagers with whom they shared the title in 2013. It is the club's first outright Senior League title for over 50 years when the inimitable Dixon Rose led the club to both Senior Cup and Senior League successes in a whirlwind four years at the top of local cricket.
With the Premier Section done and dusted and Carrickfergus on their way back to the top division at the expense of Muckamore it is a good time to reflect on the 8-team format. The top four teams finished the same as in 2013 and for most of the season Ballymena and Muckamore lagged well off the pace of the other six. Whether that made the league more or less competitive is a moot point, so at the end of the season the jury is still out on the merit or otherwise of this format. There's certainly no strong move from the top clubs to revert back to a 10-team league after the senior NCU Officials met with them recently so any proposal to change will come from the clubs at this year's AGM and not the Directorate.
Waringstown were deservedly the front-runners throughout the season, but some bad luck and a couple of weak performances wrecked their hopes of adding at least two trophies to their impressive list of successes. Instonians were never too far off the pace, but Civil Service North and North Down lacked the consistency to mount a serious challenge. North Down's hopes of a fairytale season hinged on their Irish Senior Cup semi-final with the Hills, but they salvaged defeat from the jaws of victory and with it went their season. On their day Civil Service North can beat anyone and this was proved in the Senior Cup, but they lost a couple of key league games and that proved the difference in their league campaign.
Lisburn held their own despite limited resources, but there are no guarantees in sport as CIYMS appeared to have unlimited resources and couldn't make any significant impact in any of the competitions. Ballymena struggled throughout the season and with so many positive things happening at Moylena it was disappointing to see Muckamore finish bottom. Hopefully they'll bounce back stronger and wiser from the experience
However, the biggest disappointment for another year remains the Irish Senior Cup and until we get back to winning ways and get a little slice of luck in this competition we'll have to listen to Leinster crowing and watch them posturing for another year.
However, in the meantime it will be difficult to take the smile of Russeller's face for a few months!
Clarence Hiles
Editor.
