It’s been a disappointing season for Strabane, who will now ply their trade in the Championship next year, but it’s not all doom and gloom for the Red Caps, who finished the campaign with a 15-run win over Bonds Glen in the Park – with former Irish international Peter Gillespie making a comeback appearance.

Club stalwart Michael Gillespie looked back on the weekend and season in general in a philosophical mood.

“The Strabane versus Bond’s Glen game followed the pattern of most of the other Sunday games and was a very exciting  contest, right up until the very end. Like on Saturday against Donemana, we should have posted a bigger total, after the start we got off to but there was a similar batting collapse, although the difference this time was that we got an extra 30 runs that ultimately made the difference.

“Although the game didn’t mean anything to either team, in respect of finishing positions, we were delighted to get the win, which means that we have finished the season with three wins out of four, which is extremely positive.

“The team and coaches spoke after the game and the feeling is that Sunday’s game was similar to at least four or five games this season, where we got ourselves into decent positions to win but ended up losing all of them. Ultimately these margins are the difference between Premiership and Championship.

“Those losses made the season challenging and this was exacerbated by injuries, illness and unavailability, which meant we got our best team on the field, perhaps twice this season.

“On the positive side, commitment levels within the group were really good and attendance at Tuesday & Thursday night training was brilliant - right up until the very last session.

“Playing wise, we are in a rebuilding process but the overall vibe within the Club is fantastic and we feel we have the right structure in place and the right people involved in implementing the cricketing strategy to keep the team moving forward.

“The good cricket structure within the Club means that we have already started planning our winter programme, with the aim to hit the ground running at the start of next season.”