Adam Berry out to build on Lisburn’s strong start

Lisburn will be looking to continue their impressive Robinson Services Premier League campaign when they travel tomorrow to Carrickfergus.
Lisburn's Adam Berry. Pic by PressEye Ltd.Lisburn's Adam Berry. Pic by PressEye Ltd.
Lisburn's Adam Berry. Pic by PressEye Ltd.

Adam Berry’s side are coming off a brilliant eight-wicket victory over Instonians last weekend - their third in six league games so far this season.

They performed well even in defeat to CIYMS and Waringstown and, Berry says, they took a lot of confidence from those matches.

“It was what we set out to do at the start of this season,” he said of Lisburn’s form. “We played CIYMS first match and we always knew it would be tough, but we took a lot of confidence from it.

“We ran Waringstown close in the league and CIYMS again in the Challenge Cup, so we have had a lot of good performances even though we haven’t gone on to win some of the games.

“Three from six in the league is probably better than we could have imagined.”

After picking up four points against an Instonians side they dismissed for just 61, it feels like they are well on their way to preserving their Premier League status for another season - but Berry is still wary of the threat of those teams below them.

“The aim is honestly just to take every game as it comes and see how it goes,” he added. “Muckamore and Instonians are strong teams and more than capable of beating anyone.

“The Instonians team that we played on Saturday are very strong and James Shannon is back in and he will score runs for them.

“Muckamore are strong at home and capable of beating anyone on their day.

“We just need to take each game as it comes, and Carrickfergus away on Saturday will be a tough one.”

All-rounder David Simpson was in fine form at Wallace Park last weekend, collecting figures of 5-18 with all five of his wickets coming bowled in the space of 16 balls.

He has been a top performer for Lisburn over the years and Berry praised the consistency shown by Simpson on a weekly basis.

“He was quality,” he said of Simpson’s performance. “He runs in and does his thing.

“He knows what field he wants and what he’s going to do.

“He has been doing it for so long now that you just come to expect it.

“Saturday was quality against a very strong Instonians batting line-up - on paper, they are a very strong team.

“He did really well and it’s great for him to do it week in, week out, his consistency is a big thing - he very rarely has a bad day.”