It was all over on the stroke of three o’clock at Laurelvale as last year’s Section One runners up completed their pre-split fixtures with an eighth defeat out of nine – the other was a no result. They were bowled out by Civil Service North for 99 in 32 overs with only Alex Webb getting to 20 and James West the most successful, and accurate, bowler with figures of 3-22 from his 10 overs. West then went out to open the batting and hit 51 from 27 balls (seven fours, three sixes) in a first wicket partnership of 67 in 7.2 overs with Luke Fisher. Aswin Hebbar replaced him and hit the winning boundary, his second six, at the start of the 11th over.

Life after Nikolai Smith at Shaw’s Bridge began with an emphatic seven wickets victory for the defending champions. Smith’s successor as captain, Shane Dadswell, was in a hurry to beat the rain, as Instonians chased their DLS victory target of 150 in just 10.3 overs. Dadswell hit 70 off 17 balls, with nine sixes and three fours after Neil Rock had hit 62 off 27 with seven fours and four sixes. Their second wicket partnership of 71 used up only 24 balls. Earlier Laurelvale, after being put into bat, totalled 179 in 46.3 overs, with 30s for Daryl Henry and Alex Webb. Dadswell was the leading wicket-taker with three for 22 while Andrew White and Ben Rose picked up two each.

Chris Dougherty continued his impressive form as CI finally got their second win of the season, defeating Laurelvale by 70 runs in a game reduced to 39 overs after a delayed start and a further rain break. There was still time for Dougherty to score 80 not out, from 63 balls, with eight fours and three sixes and with Carson McCullough adding 47 from 38 (two fours, four sixes), CI finished on 253 for six. Laurelvale needed a similar innings in their reply but opener John Speers with 40 was their top scorer and they never threatened a first Premier League win, finishing on 193 for seven.

Half centuries from Mo Aahil and Kian Hilton eased North Down to an eight wickets victory at Laurelvale. After bowling out the home side for 113, a unbroken stand of 102 gave North Down the victory by the 22nd over. Aahil faced 59 balls for his 53 and hit three fours and two sixes and Hilton, fresh from top scoring for the North West Warriors during the week, finished 51 not out from 54 balls with six fours and two sixes. Adam Speers took both the wickets, including professional Mike Erlank for a five-ball duck. Syed Ali at No 8 top scored for Laurelvale with 40, getting them into three figures after they had slumped to 79 for eight. He hit Erlank for two sixes but only after the South African had held a stunning overhead one-handed catch to dismiss the unlucky Mark Thornberry. Craig Young was also back in action for his club and took two wickets in a seven-over opening spell but it was skipper Tyron Koen who did the early damage with two for nine in his first five overs. Harry Zimmermann also held a superb reflex catch before taking three wickets and Jacob McClure Dalzell proved too good for the tail.

An understrength Woodvale team were still too strong for Laurelvale as they completed victory by 113 runs. Harry Warke led the way for the visitors with 73 from 62 balls (12 fours one six) but when he was third out in the 22nd over with the total on 143, Woodvale lost their way and the next five wickets fell for 42 runs. But Ross Copeland then took centre stage and with Evan Carlisle and Matthew Peak put on 91 for the last two wickets, Copeland the last man out for 52, having hit four fours and two sixes. Babar Khan got Laurelvale off to a good start with 42 from 44 balls and captain Davy Sinton then provided good resistance in a 65-ball stay. But Carlisle ripped through the middle/lower order to finish with five for 33 and the basement side, still waiting for their first Premier League win, were bowled out in 41 overs.

Laurelvale felt the full force of Steve Stolk’s bat at The Lawn, the Waringstown professional hurrying his side to an emphatic nine wickets victory with more than 41 overs to spare. After bowling out the visitors for 91, Stolk hit 85 not out from just 35 balls, an innings which included six fours and eight sixes. After the early loss of Sam Topping, the 20 year-old South African shared a second wicket stand of 85 in 33 balls with Adam Dennison who faced just five of them. Adnan Malik scored 40 for Laurelvale but after he was fourth out, the last six wickets fell for 13 runs, Waringstown captain Greg Thompson finishing with six for 18 from nine overs.

An opening stand of 102 between Johnny Waite and David Miller all but settled this rain-interrupted match at Wallace Park in Lisburn’s favour. Waite hit eights fours and two sixes in his 49 but Miller went on to hit 72 off 59 balls with five fours and five sixes as the home side reached their revised target of 158 with more than nine overs to spare. Lisburn were short of six first-team players but they still restricted the Premier League newcomers to 141 for six when rain halted their innings after 31 overs. Adam Speers contributed to a fast start with 48 off 46 balls (nine fours) but after his dismissal to Ewan Wilson, Lisburn always had the innings under control.

It was a brand new experience for all the Laurelvale players when they proudly took the field for their first match in the top section of the NCU for 54 years but it was Neil Brand who gave them a taste of what they can expect over the next four months. The South African scored 124 off 93 balls (11 fours, six sixes) as Muckamore piled up 344 for seven, although no other batter reached 50, which will be a disappointment. Babar Khan took four of the wickets. It was no easier when Laurelvale went out to bat. Mark Thornbury scored their first run off the bat, in the fourth over but they had already lost two wickets and they were bowled out in the 25th over for 57, Brand finishing with figures of 10-5-13-4 as Muckamore refused to take their foot off the pedal. Allen Coulter and Jason van der Merwe equally shared the other wickets. Captain David Sinton top scored for the new boys with 20.