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Where better to start the 2011 Division 1 season than at Inch, where 2010 champions, North County, hosted 2010 Division 2 winners, Phoenix? Each club had been in the recruitment business over the close season, County giving debuts to Shane Getkate and overseas player Josh Reeves, while Phoenix welcomed back Jeremy Bray and debutants Ryan Gallagher, Saadaf Raza and overseas player Siphe Mzaidune.

After County had won the toss and decided to bat, it was Siphe who started proceedings, running in from the Road end to bowl to Conor Armstrong at a lively medium pace. Neither he nor David Langford Smith from the Knockbrack end could quite get his line right, and Armstrong and Mossie Shiel put on 37 untroubled runs during the mandatory power play.

Osama Khan had replaced Langford Smith (Lanky, to save space), and drew first blood when he bowled Shiel for 15 in the 12^th over. He claimed second blood, too, when Dara Armstrong edged him into Lanky's buckets at slip without scoring. The bowling power play ended on 45-2 after 15 overs.

While Conor Armstrong continued to play watchfully, John Mooney was immediately into his stride, driving, pulling and carving with ease, to accelerate the score to 81 after 20 overs and 121 at drinks. No bowler was spared, and Dickeson had to go back to Siphe.

The South African managed to get Mooney, now on 81 out of 168, to miscue to Anders at a deepish mid off in the 33^rd over. Raza had switched ends, and next over the little leg spinner bowled Armstrong for 58.

He then had Ciaran Garry stumped by Jeremy Bray without scoring. Mini didn't agree with Jim McGeehan's decision, but he had to go, and it was 182-5. Left-handers Richie Lawrence and Josh Reeves found little to bother them in the Phoenix bowling, and called for the batting power play on 209-5 after 39 overs following an impromptu drink brought out by skipper Dara Armstrong.

Immediately, Lawrence lost concentration (or had a malfunctioning satnav) and ran himself out for 10. Shane Getkate lasted only a couple of overs before being stumped to give Raza his Colombia Three-for. Reeves was batting very fluently, but lost Eddie Richardson to Langford Smith, having a spell from the Road end, caught by Khan for 8.

Then the young New Zealander holed out to Conor Kelly off Ryan Gallagher's very gentle slow left arm for a well-made 37, and Lanky trapped Conor Shiel lbw to close the innings in the 47^th over for a total of 241. The last eight wickets had fallen for 73 inside 14 overs, not a good sign for County.

Langford Smith finished with 2/43, Khan with 2/27 and Raza with 3/56. That the Phoenix bowling was a little wayward is evidenced by the 22 wides. After tea they would have to chase only 240, not the 300 they should have been looking at.

I joined the McGeehans for tea, and Jim was humming the old Cat Stevens (aka Yousef Islam) song 'Mathew and Son', telling me he always thought of that song when he umpired with son Dereck. I suggested that the theme from 'Steptoe and Son' might be more appropriate, or even the theme from 'Only Fools and Horses' (Del Boy and Uncle Albert?)!

Ted Williamson and Ryan Gallagher faced up to John Mooney and Shane Getkate, and Gallagher was lbw in Getkate's first over for 0. 4-1 became 4-2 in Mooney's second over as Williamson guided a lifter to Dara Armstrong behind the stumps, Dara's 500^th Senior wicketkeeping victim. Only the late Harry Hill (502) and Colin Kavanagh (508) now stood in front of him.

Jeremy Bray got a very good bouncer from John Boy first up - straight and not too short. Brayser would normally have got out of the way of it, but he went for the pull, top-edged it straight up in the air, and Dara had number 501.

4-3 became 46-3 at the end of the mandatory power play, and 80-3 at the end of the bowling power pay. Conor Kelly was playing with great freedom, going for, and getting, his shots, as he hurtled into the forties. Young Tom Anders, a strokeless wonder any time I saw him last year, was careful, but played a couple of nice shots in his second fiddle role.

The 17^th over, from the Road end, was bowled by Richie Lawrence to Kelly, with just one legside deep fielder, Conor Armstrong, 15-20 yards behind square. Kelly, 44, latched onto the longest of long-hops and drilled it straight down Conor's throat: 85-4.

Skipper Corie Dickeson's shot is the loft over squarish cow, so Mini Garry was positioned exactly there. A nine iron drifted just over Mini's head and into the fence. Next delivery Corie called for the pitching wedge and the ball nestled safely in Mini's lap: 95-5.

The batsmen had crossed as the catch was completed, and a couple of balls later Anders edged to Mooney at slip: 95-6 and Lawrence already with a Colombia in his second over. Langford Smith and Masud Ahmed had nothing to lose, and like to bat aggressively anyway, so they clattered away merrily.

Lanky had biffed 17 of the next 25 runs when he nicked off to Dara in the 25^th over: Dara now level with Harry Hill, and Richie on a Guildford Four-for. Khan came and went, edging Lawrence to Mooney at slip for the Guildford to upgrade to a Michelle Five-for.

Masud Ahmed gained a bonus point, then was bowled by Conor Shiel for 18 before a merry last wicket partnership between Siphe and Saadaf Raza ended when Raza popped a catch to Lawrence off Shiel for 14. Phoenix were all out for 160 in the 34^th over. Lawrence finished with 5/35, Mooney 2/19 and Shiel 2/35.

Sunday also saw me in Fingal, a couple of miles to the east of Inch at Milverton, for a Division 2 local derby between The Hills 2 and North County 2. John Andrews pere won the toss and asked The Hills to set a score. Before the start, both teams lined up on the square to observe a minute's silence in memory of the late Sean Gilbride.

Terry Richardson and Conor Shiel opened the bowling, and in Conor's third over some life was injected into the game. Conor had two slips, Andrews senior and Richardson, looking like two moai on holiday from Easter Island, large, immobile, mountainy-men. Manu Kumar edge the ball at the second moai's head, and from nowhere shot a big mit to parry and catch it.

David Casey had already dropped Howard McDonnell behind the stumps, but managed to hang on when McDonnell edged William Andrews. Casey then dropped Tomas Murphy, but again was reprieved when Murphy missed a straight one from Ian Bertram to make it 58-3 in the 16^th over.

The bowling power play had been taken after 12 overs at 40-2, and finished with the score on 76-3. The other moai occasionally toppled over as the ball whizzed through the Balrothery slip region where he had parked himself, as Amer Raza and Joseph Clinton added 41 runs in jig time.

Jono Andrews had settled into a good spell from the Blackhills end, but was fortunate when Raza (39) drilled a full toss straight to Nolan at extra cover to make it 99-4 in the 25^th over. Two dozen more runs were added before the same combination accounted for Mal Byrne for 12.

Skipper Nadim Akhtar let Clinton do most of the scoring for a while, but the loft into straightish drag soon appeared. The younger moai couldn't deal with this aerial bombardment, but had better luck at the other end when he caught Clinton for a good 51 off Shane Plant after a 54 run partnership.

Nadim was joined by Vipal (?) Gargya, and bat was put to ball for another 35 runs until Neddie was bowled by Shiel for 42. Emmet Branagan's mum delayed her departure to see her son and heir take to the crease. She wasn't delayed long, as Emmet was bowled first ball.

Talking of mums, Mark Dwyer's was seated in the crowd in front of the pavilion, and I asked how her garden was looking these days. She forbade me from relating to you the reply. Andy Moore and Mick Dwyer helped Gargya (34*) add another score runs before The Hills were all out for 232 in the fiftieth over.

David Casey hung on to two more catches and Conor Shiel bumped up his return to 5/28. Jono Andrews had earlier completed his ten overs returning 2/32. Tea was its usual high standard. It really is a pleasure to visit the Vineyard, particularly when the sun complements the relaxed family atmosphere.

Adam Coughlan departed before there was a run on the board, well taken in the gully by McDonnell off Clinton. Jono Andrews was in good nick, but Nolan struggled to 5 before becoming Mick Dwyer's first victim of the afternoon behind the stumps, with the score on 34.

Cormac McLoughlin helped Andrews add another 59 runs, but Andrews should have been back in the hutch before he reached fifty, badly dropped by Nadim after his only ugly shot of the day. McLoughlin was victim number two for Mick Dwyer, out for 14 with the score on 93.

Shane Plant added 55 with Andrews before he was catch number three for Dwyer, making 12, and Conor Shiel saw Andrews to his ton and was lbw to Andy Moore for 8. Then Andrews nicked off to be Mick's number four, out for a splendid 119 off 116 balls in the 39^th over.

There were still 53 runs to be got, and now the two moai were at the crease. A few singles were waddled, a few more fours were whacked, before both were out to Mal Byrne in the 47^th over, Andrews lbw and Richardson caught in the deep by Murphy for 26.

William Andrews and Ian Bertram needed only two more overs to see County home with eight balls to spare. Joseph Clinton took 3/28 off his ten overs, but the other bowlers were relatively expensive. Still, The Hills would probably have won if they'd held their catches, especially the one from Jono Andrews.

Monday morning saw me visit my elder daughter before dropping down to Rathmines to watch the preliminary round of the Bob Kerr Irish Senior Cup fixture against Terenure. I had a walk around the older moai from yesterday, on umpiring duty today, and was told that the younger moai was playing in the Division 1 up at Inch against Clontarf.

Leinster's Robbie Kenealy strained his shoulder in the warm-up, and the Rathmines team was allowed to bring Asif Hussein in his place. Robbie scored the game on his iPad. It looked good. I hope there's an equivalent Android app for my Samsung Tab.

As I set up the cameras on the balcony, I heard a thin voice from the Terenure boys down by the old scorebox attempting to sing. When it stopped there was a round of applause, as if in relief. I discovered from Plates Brennan that it is a CYM/Terenure tradition that debutants have to sing before they go out to play.

What I had heard was Jason Kleyweg, the overseas player, offer up 'Nkosi sikelel' iAfrika'. All I can say is 'Nkosi sikelela, thina lusapho lwayo'. Leinster won the toss and batted, but it was a good start for Terenure. Mark Jones spanked two fours off Kleyweg and then was lbw to Brennan. Three overs later Dave Lucas lost his leg pole to Kleyweg.

Brennan brought in Eoin Vaughan to silly mid off to Anton Scholtz, and the little Aussie promptly blasted the ball at Vaughan's head. Vaughan parried it over his shoulder and onto the ground. Later in the over Scholtz swung one high over extra cover, but the pursuing fielder couldn't lay a hand on it.

Having had those two let-offs, Anton settled into his A game, working the ball off his legs and cover-driving beautifully. Craig Mallon is less fluent, a block or hit merchant, but today his hits were well-executed, mainly drives. One hundred was passed inside twenty overs, and after Kleyweg and Brennan, Terenure were struggling for bowlers.

Tariq Iqbal's medium pace and Ben Hoey's leg breaks were occasionally good, but more often poor. Ben will be good when he grows up, as good as Uncle Conor, we hope for Ireland's sake. Scholtzy passed fifty out of 113-2 in the 22^nd over, and Tiggy likewise out of 145-2 in the 28^th over.

In the 34^th over Scholtz impatiently flicked Kleyweg through to Nathan Carroll for 93 out of 184. JP O'Dwyer quickly got his large frame moving and his large shoulders opening. The score moved past 200 and had reached 246 in the 42^nd over when Tariq bowled Mallon for 73.

JP reached his fifty and was also bowled by Tariq. Corey Edwards (16) and Gavin Gilmore (12) were bowled by Brennan, but Peter Byrne ruined Plates's final figures by hitting his last two balls for boundaries as Leinster closed on 316-8. Brennan took 4/53, Kleyweg 2/56 and Iqbal 2/76. The national coach was impressed by Hoey's 0/65.

Terenure loses a lot of the younger players it develops, disproportionately to Phoenix and Pembroke. The pitches in the Park can be good, but are sometimes as lively as the Terenure mat. Apart from two or three strips right over by the railway line, Pembroke's can be minefields. So what's the attraction of Sydney Parade?

This season Terenure did gain a recruit in Andre Botha, but he wasn't registered in time for this match. Had he been available Terenure might just have kept Leinster to a gettable score and might just have got it. But they weren't going to get 300+.

And they didn't. And how they didn't! Colm Morgan had no idea where the ball was after an lbw shout from Corey Edwards, responded late to Kenny McDonald's call for a leg bye, and was run out at the non-striker's end. McDonald was then riddled neck and crop by Will Lennon.

Vaughan was lbw to Edwards, Hoey bowled by Lennon, and Kleyweg caught at slip by Jonesey off Lennon. That was 14-5 in 8 overs and curtains. But there's always hope. Stand-in keeper Gavin Gilmore was in the horrors, giving Tom Lynch a couple of lives, and Nathan Carroll had survived the initial carnage to play some good shots.

But in Lennon's seventh over, Carroll straight drove uppishly, and the Kiwi held on to the return catch to make it 40-6. Keith McCarthy was lbw to Peter Byrne in the 19^th over and Tariq Iqbal bowled by Hugh McDonnell in the 22^nd over to leave the score at 50-8.

There was then a gutsy stand between Lynch and Lingala which saw off Edwards's second spell and raised the score to 89, when Lingala was run out. Brennan survived five balls, but was bowled by the last ball of the 30^th over leaving Lynch on 29*.

Star of the bowling show was Will Lennon with figures of 10-5-12-4, supported by McDonnell (2/20), Byrne (1/8) and Edwards (1/42). Bring on Muckamore on the 14th.

Cheers,
 
Stu.

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