North Down, who won the cup in 2006, suffered a crushing defeat by 106 runs. Unfortunately, Templepatrick were denied further match practice at the weekend when their local 'derby' against Academy was postponed, the Hydepark team being involved in a delayed cup tie at Dungannon.

The winner of Saturday's tie will host Drumaness or PSNI in the quarter-finals on June 7.

The club's Second XI, under the leadership of Brian Scroggie, made a disappointing start to their Division Two campaign, going by to Cregagh II by seven wickets at Gibson Park. The teenage batsmen failed to deliver and it was opening bowler, Peter McDonald who top-scored with 21 in a below-par total of 108. McDonald and Aaron Bartley each claimed a wicket as Cregagh reached their target in 25.4 overs.

Templepatrick III emerged on the right side of a cliffhanger at Downpatrick, beating their hosts by five wickets. But they had to wait until the last ball of the final over to secure the win.

Chasing 181, Aaron Pyper and Willie Murray were the Templepatrick match-winners, scoring 60 and 21 respectively in an splendid unbroken stand of 93 for the sixth wicket. Pyper, a student at Ballyclare High School, struck seven boundaries, while Murray managed three.

John Johnston, Ian Webber and Pyper each picked up two wickets at a respective cost of 25, 35 and 33 runs.

Peter Shepherd, the Templepatrick captain, said: "This was an excellent game with a very tense finish. Our teenage attack bowled quite well and succeeded in taking wickets regularly. Nevertheless, Downpatrick at their new ground set us quite a formidable target, but we put together a few useful partnerships that kept the scoreboard ticking over nicely before Aaron Pyper and Murray delivered the goods with that superb stand. It was an encouraging start to the season for our side, which included no fewer than nine teenagers."

Peter has designed an impressive new web site, www.templepatrickcc.co.uk and members are urged to use it it keep up to date with happenings at the Cloughan.

The new season is now in full swing at Templepatrick, a club with one of the best youth development set-ups in the province. The senior team is arguably the youngest in Section Three of Division One, while the other three adult teams are composed almost entirely of schoolboys.