North Down were the latest team to return to Laurelvale on Saturday and the latest to leave with four points as the newly promoted side again found the step up to the Premier League a match too far.

Laurelvale have now lost all five completed matches on their return to the top flight for the first time in 54 years – their game against the other pointless team so far this season, Cliftonville Academy, was washed out for a second time on Thursday night so goes down as a no result – and when batting first, they have lost by nine, eight (against North Down) and seven wickets. When batting second, both games were lost by three figures.

Without a professional, it was always going to be difficult and while they put their hand up to get the Northern Cricket Union out of a hole last season, it is easy to see why Carrickfergus did not want to be promoted and Templepatrick accepted a drop back into Section One.

The NCU’s answer is to make next season a 12-team Premier League which may not improve the standard but it will at least give teams like Laurelvale a chance to be more competitive and the chance to win a few games. For now it is not just the top three or four who are ahead of the rest but the top eight are too good for Laurelvale and Cliftonville Academy, although after another postponement on Saturday, the latter will reach the last Saturday in June having completed only four league games.

There were half-centuries for both Mo Aahil and Kian Hilton in North Down's win

This was North Down’s second league win of the season – the other was against Cliftonville Academy – and having been knocked out of the Challenge Cup by CI, who are below them in the league table, the only way is up for the Comber side.

They will be grateful for any win and it was all but secured inside the first 10 overs on Saturday with Ireland international Craig Young and captain Tyron Koen each taking two wickets to reduce Laurelvale to 42 for four.

A damp pitch forced the hosts to roll out a new pitch less than an hour before the start, resulting in a delay and a reduction to a 46-over game but, to be fair to the groundstaff there were no complaints about the way the pitch played. Indeed, the bowlers’ run-ups were a lot softer than the pitch.

So it was not the ideal conditions for Young, who missed the inter-provincial action for North West Warriors on Wednesday because of his persistent back problem but he was given the go-ahead by Cricket Ireland to play here and he bowled seven overs off the reel. He conceded 35 runs but induced a nick behind from John Speers and dismissed Adnan Malik, second top scorer with 18, thanks to a superb catch in the covers by Harry Zimmermann.

At the other end, the batters could not score off Koen and when he took himself off after five  overs, they had cost just nine runs. Zimmermann was his replacement and he dismissed Daryl Henry with his first ball, to one of three catches by Mike Erlank, his best a stunning overhead, one-handed effort at mid-off to send the unlucky Mark Thornbury back to the pavilion.

It was pace all the way for North Down until Jacob McClure-Dalzell was introduced after drinks and he duly took a wicket in his first over to leave Laurelvale 79 for eight. Thanks to Syed Ali, who hit two sixes off Erlank in three balls during his innings of 40, the home side did get into three figures but two more wickets for the young slow bowler wrapped up the innings in the 31^st over at 113.

There was still time for North Down to bat before the tea break and Andrew Speers enjoyed himself with the wickets of James Shields and Erlank, for a duck, in the space of six balls. But that only let in Kian Hilton to join Mo Aahil and they not only stayed until tea but needed only another 10.3 overs afterwards to finish the match.

Hilton was top scorer for Northern Knights in their game against the Warriors and continued his good form with an undefeated 51 from 54 balls (six fours and two sixes) after Aahil had brought up his own half-century, also from 54 balls with three fours and two sixes.

But they know tougher tests lie in wait and while North Down currently sit in sixth place, thanks to a better run rate than Woodvale, they know a win against the north Belfast side next Saturday is a must, with games against Instonians, Waringstown and Muckamore to follow before the split.

Laurelvale can only wait for the post-split when they get two more chances against the other bottom four teams to avoid a pointless return to the Premier League.