Scenes of joy were very evident amongst the players and the large crowd present when Jamie Grassi hit the winning boundary for Balrothery to win their third Leprechaun Cup victory in as many years.
The day had started well for Delgany who were 60-1 from 10 overs however tight bowling from Mikey Sludds restricted their progress in the middle overs. Ciaran Soden scored a valuable 25* batting down the order to gain Delgany a respectable total of 116.
Balrothery Captain, Mikey Sludds, raises the trophy aloft as Balbriggan win their 3rd Leprechaun Trophy on the trot
Despite losing Mikey Sludds early to a catch by wicketkeeper Stuart Jackson both Grassi and Fionn Hand shared an excellent 2nd wicket partnership to see Balrothery home for a famous victory.
YMCA CC - June 16th 2011
Delgany NS v's Balrothery NS
Delgany 116 all out, 24.5 overs (Harry Kirk 26, Ciaran Soden 25*, Peter Sullivan 23, Mikey Sludds 4-18)
Balrothery 117-1, 18.1 overs (Jamie Grassi 62*, Fionn Hand 37*, Harry Kirk 1-17)
Balrothery won by 9 wickets
Umpires - Reinhardt Strydom and Andrew Leonard.
Further schools in the Dublin 15 area of the city have been targeted for involvement in next year's event while Adamstown NS, St Aidan's (Tallaght), St Mary's (Lucan), St Mary's (Booterstown), St Colmcilles (Swords) and St Andrew's NS (Bray) will also participate. A new Primary Schools 'Super League' will be launched in 2012 and will involved the six more established cricket schools namely: Aravon, St Mary's, St Andrew's, Delgany, Balrothery and Castleknock NS.
The Leprechaun Cup continues to be the flagship for cricket development in Leinster with many new schoolchildren now being given the opportunity to play hardball cricket during their primary school years.
To present the trophy (sponsored by the Leprechauns CC) was Leprechauns stalwart Dick Forrest while Balrothery past pupil and current Ireland international John Mooney presented the medals to both sides.
Representing Precision Electric, Heatley Tector mentioned how proud he was to be involved as a sponsor of this growing tournament. 'To see so many new schools being introduced to cricket throughout the province has been hugely beneficial for the game here in Ireland. We are delighted to be in a position to assist with this programme through offering schools equipment and also by providing them with formal coaching throughout the year'.
Balrothery NS:
Mikey Sludds (C), Jamie Grassie, Jonathan Grassi, Fionn Hand, Anthony Mooney, Darradh Mathews, Tom Downes, Fiachra Cassin, Eoin Holland, Justin Kavanagh, Ciaran Murphy, Liam Leonard, Ciaran Morrison, Daniel Hughes, Even Farren
Manager - Eileen McGovern
Coach - David Russell
Delgany NS:
Robin Demery, Elliot Goode, William Hennessy, Stuart Jackson, Harry Kirk, Nick McGuinness, Conor Mulcahy, Ciaran Soden, Andrew Sullivan, Peter Sullivan, Harry Tector, Sean Tobin
Manager - Sharon Cole.
Coaches - Aideen Rice and Kamal Merchant
