The North West Under 17s got the youth interprovincial season off to a winning start as they beat the NCU by 61 runs at Belmont.

The Waterside duo of James Smallwoods (30) and Leland McElwee (28) got the Warriors off to a fine start at 62 for 0, but that quickly became 82 for 5, and in danger of throwing away all their good work.

Ryan Nolan top-scored with 43 that included 3 sixes and fours, adding 74 with skipper Sam Haslett (34) for the 7th wicket.

Ryan Nolan

There were also vital late runs for Bobby Brolly (23) as the last two wickets added 45 to make a total of 228.

Seb Yeates picked up three wickets, while there were two apiece for Ollie Dyer, Alistair Watt and James West.

The NCU innings followed a similar pattern as Adam Leckey (28) and Adam Heasley (21) took them to 79 for 2, but a mini-collapse saw them falter to 89 for 5.

This time though there wasn't a late order fightback despite the best endeavours of captain James West (34).

Cameron Nawn and Jack McIvor each captured three wickets, while Bobby Brolly's 2 for 16 featured a stunning caught and bowled to account for Luka Bates.

The next match in the series is on Monday at Oak Hill between Leinster and Munster. 

The format this season sees five teams participating, with the four Unions being joined by a Cricket Ireland Invitational XI, which will include fringe players from the Unions as well as a number of English based players who harbour Irish ambitions.