blue circle c.c. (1978 )

RON CHARLES IN ACTION

BLUE CIRCLE began production in 1968 and brought several new cricketers to the DUNGANNON CLUB including Danny Costello and Frank Clark. Loughery College also began to play cricket and this produced other cricketers such as Norman Jolley, Ron Charles and Aaron Hall who gradually filtered into the Dungannon set up . Colin Rea and Bob Agnew, lecturers at Loughry, also played for Dungannon for a number of years. BLUE CIRCLE EMPLOYEES became so enthusiastic that they formed their own club in 1978 and brought in players from the Cookstown area and also enlisted the help of a number of Dungannon players when they took part in the Tyrone and Fermanagh League which was run by the late Bob Kerr. Crank Clark and Bob Gillen were responsible for starting up the club which became very successful and supported two sides until the T and F League folded. They attracted players such as the Donnelly brothers , Joe Thornbury (Portadown ) who formed a very good opening partnership with our own Chris Adrain in the latter years of the league. Alister Smyth , Jeremy Stewart and Richard Lyons also player regularly. Ron Charles became the driving force behind the club and was supported by Aaron Hall, George Gourley ,the Charles brothers and the Montgomery brothers. The club produced a number of capable players to help keep Dungannon going . There is no doubt that Dungannon would not have been able to field a 2nd XI without their assistance . Ron Charles had a big influence in introducing new blood into Dungannon over the years. George Gourley , Aaron Hall, Trevor Wilson, Trevor McGaughey , Gordon Black ,Norman Jolley , Simon McAleese , Andy Brown ,Gareth Brown , Paul Kerr, William Mullen , Robin Agnew , Niall Hunter , Brian Reid and Ron himself are members of Blue Circle who have represented Dungannon over the years . Ron was captain of Dungannon 2ndXI for a number of years and is one of the leading run scorers for the team. Both Aaron and George won the 1stXI Bowling Cup. Unfortunately Aaron's batting for Dungannon did not reach the heights achieved for Blue Circle. I (Billy Adrain ) played one match for Blue Circle scoring 30 not out whilst Aaron blasted a not out 50 at the other end to record a ten wicket win. Brian Reid was killed in a game of football in which he was punched on the temple and this ended a promising career both on and off the cricket field. Dungannon try to play a match against the old Blue Circle players each year in his memory. ******************************************************************** Blue Circle opened a new ground in 1981 with Dungannon providing the opposition. the match was notable for the batting of Basil McNamee and the bowling of Phillip Orr who had West Indies Star , Everton Mattis , caught appropriately by Basil McNamee on the long on boundary when he did not pick the Orr googlie. He must be the only Dungannon bowler to dismiss a TEST BATSMAN. Blue Circle went from strength to strength winning most if not all of the Tyrone and Fermanagh League Competitions,League sections A and B along with Cup and Plate until the T and F league was unfortunately terminated in the late 1990s. The BC cricketers who contributed most to Dungannon C.C. were :-- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- m i no hs r ave o m r w ave catches 1stXI 2nd XI BOW. CUP BAT CUP BOW. CUP Ron Charles X 175 157 19 77 1984 14.38 214.4 19 828 52 15.92 25 1983/95/6/8/2000 Aaron Hall X 131 115 8 59 1064 9.94 1401 357 3649 215 16.95 1991/93 Andy Brown 52 48 8 90* 906 22.65 George Gourley X 59 41 16 29* 193 7.27 692.5 173 1521 115 13.23 Brian Reid X 76 68 5 58* 922 14.63 Trevor McGaughey 30 29 8 72* 442 21.05 223.5 41 637 27 23.59 Gordon Black X 40 36 4 114* 531 16.59 156.1 25 528 25 21.21 Paul Kerr 44 42 5 122* 575 15.54 Roger Robinson 78 69 7 82 947 15.27 Trevor Wilson X 17 16 1 45 227 15.13 Niall Hunter 47 42 5 57 507 13.70 Gary Mitchell X 25 34 3 47* 409 13.19 117.1 12 407 30 13.57 Gareth Brown 59 38 14 38 271 11.23 291.4 37 1083 64 16.92 Robin Agnew 87 69 14 32* 299 5.44 336.5 34 1317 73 18.04 Glen Millar X 59 47 7 35 327 8.18 553.3 98 1621 90 18.01 Simon McAleece 73 46 8 23 161 4.24 500.5 74 1605 100 16.05 Keith Millar X 35 29 6 14* 95 4.13 William Mullan 46 36 8 20* 91 3.25 286.4 28 1074 49 21.92 A. McGaughey 174 19 744 28 26.57