BATTLING WARRIORS UNDONE BY CLASSY O'BRIEN AND BALBIRNIE

There was no cricket in the North West Premier Division on Saturday with all eyes on The Hills as the Warriors got this year's Interprovincial programme under way with a very difficult trip to Dublin to tackle Leinster Lightning.

Bobby Rao's charges had stunned the southerners at the back end of last season and that defeat must still have been stinging Head Coach Trent Johnston as he named a side stacked full of current and former Internationals for this weekend's renewal.

Despite that however a superb performance from the underdogs meant that the home side were indebted to a magnificent recovery led by Kevin O'Brien and Andrew Balbirnie that was to eventually allow them to hang on for a narrow win.

Andy McBrine won the toss and had no hesitation in opting to bat first, sending David Rankin and Jason Milligan in to open the innings. Rankin got his season off to a great start with a match-winning century at Donemana last weekend and the big Bready man started with a real flourish here against Max Sorensen and Eddie Richardson.

Runs were very much at a premium for the Warriors last season- only once did the North West boys post a score over 200 in 2013- but their tireless work under Bobby Rao and Ian McGregor throughout the winter was paying dividends straight away in Skerries.

Rankin dominated the early exchanges to the extent that his batting partner faced just 2 balls in the first 4 overs and he looked up for this as the North West got on top early. The openers posted an excellent half century stand in the first 9 overs before Rankin attacked one ball too many and was bowled by Richardson for 33 (5 fours and a six). Milligan was joined in the middle by Niall McDonnell, the runaway winner of the region's batting averages last season but it was the Fox Lodge man who carried the fight to Lightning.

Milligan is another player who has improved beyond recognition for his involvement at Interprovincial level and he and McDonnell set about building on the positive start, the pair rattling past the 100-mark in the 20th over. The opener reached his own 50 with a boundary off George Dockrell as Leinster turned to their plethora of International bowlers to try to break them down. Unfortunately for the batting side however that breakthrough was to be handed to the hosts as Milligan and McDonnell tried for a risky second with the score on 134 and the former was run out for an excellent 61 (7 fours).

Stuart Thompson was the new man in and he and McDonnell added another 26 before the Coleraine opener inexplicably looped a simple catch to Pat Collins off the bowling of Andrew Balbirnie and was gone for 40 (7 fours). Skipper McBrine joined his International team-mate Thompson and the bowlers managed to strangle things a little in the next six overs, building pressure and forcing the Warriors captain into an error that cost him his wicket having made just 6. That period of play enabled Lightning to wrestle back some of the initiative with the 19-run stand taking 39 balls to compile, however it wasn't to last.

Last week at Fox Lodge, Brigade looked to be in trouble at 47-4 before being rescued by Johnny Thompson with an unbeaten 95 and the big all-rounder was in irresistible form here too as he and namesake Stuart batted brilliantly.

The North West pair took on all comers in an unbroken 100-run stand that led their side to a very competitive 285 for 4 in their 50 overs. "JT" hit 4 fours and 5 big sixes on his way to a 47-ball 66 not out while his partner hit 6 fours in a more composed but equally valuable unbeaten 60. Richardson (2-54) was the pick of the home attack but the first innings belonged to the visitors as the trio of current Irish International bowlers came in for lots of tap.

The reply began tentatively with Ben Ackland and Andrew Balbirnie making just 7 in the first 4 overs before Johnny Thompson put the former out of his agony for a 14-ball "duck". Pat Collins was next in however the Australian-born batsman lasted no time at all before being bowled by Craig Young to leave the much-vaunted Leinster outfit reeling on 7 for 2.

John Anderson tried to respond by hitting Thompson for consecutive boundaries but the North West man responded by knocking back Anderson's stumps with the next one to make the score 20 for 3. Balbirnie was still there however and he decided that attack was the best form of defence as he hit 10 off the last two balls of Young's 5th over.

Andrew Poynter came in at 5, one of the players who made a mark in Bangladesh this winter, but after he and Balbirnie attempted to increase the tempo he edged one from Stuart Thompson to Ricky-Lee Dougherty to leave the Warriors well on top.

That brought Kevin O'Brien to the middle and you got the feeling that if Leinster were to pull themselves out of a hole, it had to be now and the Lightning talisman didn't disappoint. The next four-and-a-bit overs went for 51 runs as the hosts caught up, with the Warriors losing a little discipline in both bowling and fielding as the batsmen turned up the heat.

McBrine decided at that point it was time for the slow stuff and he and Iftikhar Hussain at least managed to quieten things down a little over the next few overs however they were unable to separate Balbirnie and O'Brien as they raced to a 100-run partnership from just 69 balls. From then on the home side were in cruise control as the batsmen scored at will- both seemingly in an unintentional race to reach their own personal centuries.

Unfortunately for O'Brien it wasn't to be, his innings ending in the most unfortunate of circumstances, run out off a ball driven back by Balbirnie which deflected off the bowler's foot and into his stumps for a superb 98 (11 fours and 3 sixes).

Skipper John Mooney and then Eddie Richardson came and went as the visitors refused to lie down, the former pacing around in the light mizzle waiting patiently for the umpires to come off as his side had the lead on Duckworth Lewis. Mooney got his wish with the score on 254 for 7, not long after Balbirnie had reached a thoroughly deserved century and that was to be that as the rain closed in- the home side 19 ahead almost exclusively on the back of O'Brien's whirlwind knock.

An excellent effort in defeat from the North West side who must surely take great confidence into the rest of the tournament on the back of their efforts.