I wrote last week's review of the previous week's action before the Senior Cup semi final between The Hills and Clontarf had been finished. On Thusday evening of last week Rod Hokin (79*) and Alex Cusack (40*) finished the pursuit of 217 for Clontarf to win by 6 wickets, the only bowler to worry 'Tarf being Matt Dwyer with 2/25 off his 12.
It was therefore the Bull's Meadow men who turned up in Inch on Saturday morning determined to keep the cup they have held since 2007. Winning the toss, they made a slow start, reaching only 81 off 32 overs at lunch for the loss of Adrian D'Arcy (1), Bill Coghlan (40) and Andrew Poynter (1). The grind continued to the 50th over when the score was 163 for the further loss of Alex Cusack (27) and Greg Molins (13).
The game was then turned on its head by Joe Morrissey striking 40 in six overs, and Rod Hokin going from the eighties to 126* in the final four overs, Clontarf reaching a very testing 281-8. André Botha was the pick of the North County bowlers with 12-4-29-1. County then got off to a horrible start, losing Conor Armstrong in Cusack's second over and Botha in his third.
The Ministry for Silly Shots plus a daft run out reduced the challengers to 44-7 in 18 overs, with a minimum of respectability being added by François van der Merwe's 34 out of 96 all out in 29.4 overs. Cusack's 2/23 off 8 was important, Conor D'Arcy's 2/11 off 4 a bad joke and Rod Hokin's 2/16 off 4.4, plus two catches, plus the run out, made sure of the Man-of-the-Match award.
There were also supposed to be two Senior A League matches on Saturday, but only the umpires turned up at Anglesea Road for the rearranged match between Merrion and Railway. Why so? Well, the two teams had agreed to reschedule the match (again) for later in the month, but hadn't bothered to tell anybody else. I mean, what's it got to do with the LCU, the LCUSA, the Cover Point website, the Cricket Ireland website, or any other interfering busybodies?
Another group which can at times keep their cards very close to their chests are the scorers. As of Wednesday afternoon I still don't have a record of what happened in Rathmines on Saturday 25th July, or at the same venue last Monday, or at Phoenix on Saturday 1st August. The only reason I know anything about Saturday's match in Rathmines is because I went there after the conclusion of the Cup Final.
Pembroke had got to 205-3 off 45 overs, thanks to 82 from Anthony Brooks and 58 from Andrew Balbirnie, but they could only push on to 236 off 50 overs, not a big score in Rathmines. Mind you, it looked plenty big enough when Leinster were 51/5, and Will Lennon joined his sjkipper Anton Scholtz. Will departed for 21 with the score on 138, but Anton then enjoyed the company of that rave from the grave, Gavin Gilmore, who was out for 22 with 45 still wanted from seven overs.
Andy McConnell didn't last long, but Hugh McDonnell kept a watching brief as Scholtzy struck the 'Broke bowling to all parts (mainly to or over the leg fence) to finish on 142* as Leinster won with seven balls to spare.
There were two more Senior A matches on Monday, one at Sydney Parade, where the vistors were Clontarf, and one at Rathmines where Leinster entertained The Hills.
Neither of the relegation candidates could change the two win gap between them as both lost. Pembroke shouldn't have done, bowling 'Tarf out for 136 in 40.4 overs (Poynter 34, Eoghan Delany 42, McCarthy 3/17, Balbirnie 3/24), but then failing lamentably to stay ahead of the D/L par score so that when the rain came, exactly as forecast, they were 13 short.
True, Joe Morrissey bowled well on a track that went from dying to dead to six foot under, returning 10-2-21-4, but Ryan Hopkins and Robin Russell should be strung up for the shots they played. 78-4 off 22.2 would have got them home; 78-6 didn't.
Up in Dublin 6, Leinster crawled to 117 off 44 overs, the same score as they got against Railway nine days earlier (or so I'm told) but in 4.2 more overs. I'm also told that Jonesey was chunged by the dancing doctor (hardly a first, but now I've seen the scoresheet, Craig Mallon was lbw and Jonesey caught behind), Scholtzy scratched 27, Max Sorensen bowled his 10 for eight runs, and Emmett Branigan took 4/31.
The Hills in general, and Jeremy Bray in particular with 28*, made sure they were always ahead of the D/L par, so when the rain came, 77-4 in 23 overs gave them victory by 21 runs. We all know Jeremy can bat, but many were impressed with the fourteen made by young Thos. Murphy, on a season's loan from Balbriggan.
In Section B of the League there were matches on Saturday between Old Belvedere and Rush, and Phoenix and Malahide. On Monday, Phoenix travelled to Dublin 6W to play CYM. As predicted, Rush rolled Belvo, putting them out for 105 in 36.2. The main wicket-takers were not Naz and Shahid but Tipu, with 3/24, and Dan van Zyl with 3/23. Rush took 30.2 overs to get the runs, Lionel Jansen scoring 41. Rush are always a better side with Dan the Man in the van.
On the other side of the park wall, Phoenix could only reach 184 all out in 49.5 overs, Paddy Conliffe continuing his good batting form of late with 50, and Matt Daykin continuing to lead the way for the villagers with 3/26, abetted by Callum Riches with 3/49. Daykin then scored 112 (to make it 370 runs plus 18 wickets in eight matches) out of 188/6 in 41.1 overs for Malahide to ease into one of the promotion spots. Malahide nearly always get a top rank pro, don't they?
Phoenix regained second place on Monday when they beat CYM, but only just. The Chlee batsmen got their noses to the grindstone as they edged to 191-5 off their 50 overs, everybody making a few and Donal Vaughan 52*, his first fifty of the season. Plates Brennan must have had nosebleed batting at seven. He then riddled Rory Flanagan and Phoenix were soon 26-3 and then 55-4.
Andrew Downton (40) and Conor Kelly (31) took it past the 100, but there was another wobble as they both departed. Skipper Corie Dickeson (37) and Masud Ahmed (40) got the parkies to within a dozen of victory before another, near-terminal wobble. Ten (Jonty Wardell) and Jack (Faulds) were both on zero as 192 was reached, so my money's on a wide to bring up the win.
Turning to this weekend's fixtures, there are two Leinster teams involved in the semi finals of the Bob Kerr Irish Senior Cup. Somewhat counter-intuitively, they are the two teams battling against relegation! Leinster entertain Limavady at Rathmines, while Pembroke travel to the Holm, Donemana.
Leinster pro Carlos Brathwaite (yes, I've been spelling his name wrongly all summer) has done his back, and can only bowl off breaks. Rob Miley is still away, so Robbie Kenealy comes in to provide some trundle with Will Lennon and Hugh McDonnell. Ian O'Herlihy returns in place of Dave Lucas. Andy McConnell will keep wicket.
The Leinster batting can be strong enough to post a decent score, but I doubt whether the bowling is good enough to subdue Decker Curry, Davie Cooke, Ian McGregor, Andrew Riddles (if he plays) and Ricky McDaid, let alone the lesser-known lights of a formidable Limavady batting line-up. Away win.
Pembroke will travel more in hope than in expectation of success. Donemana appear to be performing to the best of their abilities at the moment, while for Pembroke only Andrew Balbirnie and pro Anthony Brooks are showing any consistency with bat and ball. The 'Broke are great scrappers, but I can't see anything other than a home win.
In Section A of the Senior League there are two top of the table clashes, one on Saturday, one on Sunday. The Hills believe that they will be hosting Railway Union on Saturday at Milverton, although the Wheeltappers and Shunters may believe that they have rearranged it. Although the Wilberries got a win at Rathmines on Monday, I don't think that was the start of a title-winning run. Railway to win, if they turn up.
On Sunday the Cup Final teams meet again, this time at Castle Avenue. North County will be able to play their latest recruit, Clontarf old boy Thinus Fourie, which will increase their body language options if nothing else. Should County lose, they will be firmly in the relegation doo-dah with Leinster and Pembroke. I don't think they'll lose, but I didn't think they'd lose last week's final either!
In Section B, Phoenix are in last chance saloon. If they don't beat Rush in Kenure on Saturday, they can kiss their tail-enders goodbye to promotion. I've already said how important I think the return of Dan van Zyl is to Rush, and I think the Russians will win to put themselves back into the promotion stakes.
Also on Saturday, YMCA will walk all over Old Belvedere at Claremont road to place one foot into Section A. Whether their bunch of ageing legends and antipodean recruits will pass muster with the big beasts, I very much doubt. Whoever survives out of Leinster and Pembroke will be willing YMCA to promotion so that they've somebody to beat next season.
Cheers,
Stu
Copyright: Cover Point
