THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
I posted my last blog in the aftermath of the crushing defeat to Lurgan in the semi-final of the All Ireland Cup. You may recall that I talked about the lads getting back up on the horse following that defeat. Not content with doing just that, they have since ‘galloped’ to seven successive victories – five for the A team and two for the B team.
Let me start with the B team. Having won 7 of their 8 games in the South Section of the Under 11B League (our last League win was a walkover against Phoenix) we faced Old Belvedere A in the semi-final of the Claremont Cup at Rathmines on Tuesday, August 17th. Old Belvedere scored 84 for 4 (64 net) with Ewan Mackay turning in very impressive bowling figures of 2 for 2 off 2 overs supported by Daniel O’Brien with 1 for 2 off 2. While we scored 105 runs we lost 7 wickets in the process (70 net). Things were looking a little bleak until Fionn O’Sullivan scored 16 runs in the fourth pairing which proved the inspiration for Eoin Byrne & David McKenna to put on 32 runs in the final pairing with Eoin making 18 & David 14. Perhaps just as important as making all those runs, the three lads didn’t lose a wicket. We finished up narrow victors by 6 runs to book our place in the final.
The winners of the North section, Clontarf B, beat the runner-up in the South section, YMCA B, so we faced Clontarf (in Clontarf) in the Claremont Cup final on Friday, August 20th. We scored a very impressive 100 runs losing only 3 wickets (net 85 runs). Donal McAuliffe made 13 runs in the penultimate pairing and the final pairing (Eoin & David again) put on 23 runs with Eoin on 19 and David on 4. Clontarf made 88 in reply but really accurate bowling and top-class fielding caused them to lose 7 wickets and they finished on 53 net. Best of our bowlers were Daniel O’Brien (2 for 13 off 4 overs), Fionn O’Sullivan (1 for 6 off 2), Ian Manley (1 for 8 off 2) and Man-of-the-match, Eoin Byrne (1 for 10 off 2).
Our Captain, Milo Egan, was presented with the Claremont Cup and we saw history repeating itself as the current Under 13A’s wicket-keeper, Jack Fitzgerald, collected the same Cup on behalf of Leinster U11B’s at the same venue against the same opposition this time last year. Well done to the B team, many of whom have also seen action for the A team this summer.
Now on to the A team. We set ourselves the target of winning all our remaining fixtures in order to collect the League and Cup double and have won 5 games on the trot (back to the horse again). We crushed an under strength Malahide team at Rathmines on Saturday, August 14th scoring 101 for 4 (81 net). Malahide in reply made only 77 for 14 (7 net). Three of our bowlers took two wickets each bowling only two overs each (Joe Prendergast 2 for 7; Conor O’Gorman 2 for 11 & Ian Manley 2 for 12). To be fair to Malahide, they had an Under 13 match on the same morning and a number of their best players were poached to play in that game.
We faced Rush the following day, also in Rathmines. This was the game of the season and to quote Sir Alex Ferguson it was squeaky-bum time. We made 108 for 5 (83 net) with the final pairing of Eoin O’Neill and Conor O’Gorman putting on 29 runs. Eoin had a great knock scoring 19 runs off only 8 balls and hitting 4 boundries off the last 4 balls. Stirring stuff. Donal McAuliffe & Eoin Byrne both scored 15 runs off only 16 balls in the case of Eoin and 13 balls in the case of Donal.
In reply, Rush made 107 for 5 (82 net) so we won by the narrowest possible margin – one run. The final Rush pairing put on 36 runs and they needed a 6 from the last ball to win. They ran 4 and total confusion reigned as the bails were off the stumps. This requires that one of the stumps be removed from the ground and touched by the ball. Very few of the players and spectators present were aware of this esoteric rule of cricket. Not surprising, as it happens so rarely.
The third game in our winning streak came against Phoenix in the Park on Wednesday, August 18th. Unfortunately, match stats on this game are sketchy as the regular Scorer was in the wee North that day watching Leinster Under 11s play Ulster Under 11s (more of that anon). Phoenix are propping up the League table having lost all of their fixtures but sometimes such teams can play with abandon as they are not under any pressure. The match proved to be a real banana skin and we won by only 8 runs in a wet and windy Phoenix Park. We scored 85 runs but lost 10 wickets (35 net) while Phoenix made 57 runs losing 6 wickets in the process (27 net).
The weather (and our form) improved on the weekend just gone when we played two matches at home to The Hills on Saturday and away to Clontarf yesterday. One of The Hills players took ill on the trip south side which meant that they fielded only 9 players. The Hills scored 86 runs for 4 (56 net as under LCU Regulations a team is penalised 10 runs per player for not fielding a full team). The four wickets went to Conor O’Gorman (2 for 17 off 4); Milo Egan (1 for 5 off 2) and Tom Murray (1 for 17 off 4). In reply, we made 116 for 4 (96 net) with Eoin Byrne (this guy’s on fire) making 18 and the final pairing of the other Eoin and Conor putting on 40 runs off only 24 balls. Eoin O’Neill finished up on 23 from 14 balls.
We knew that Clontarf (who had lost only two matches in their campaign) were going to be tough opposition. After what can only be described as a slow start (the first two pairings putting on only 14 runs and losing 2 wickets in the process) our innings caught fire when the third pairing of Joe Prendergast & Tom Murray put together a partnership of 35 runs. While Tom made the bulk of the runs (29 runs off 16 balls including 6 boundries), Joe provided great support allowing Tom to retain the strike. Milo & Donal contributed a valuable 18 runs (losing only 1 wicket) and the Conor & Eoin show performed again coming up with 24 runs (13 to Eoin & 11 to Conor). It is fair to say that the turning point in the match was Tom’s barnstorming knock and he looked like he could have batted all day long. Our 93 for 3 (78 net) was a reasonable total but by no means beyond reach. Clontarf made a very good stab at it putting on 99 for 6 (69 net) with our best bowlers being Daniel & Eoin (this fellow’s going to get a big head) both on 1 for 8 off 2. In the end we won by 9 runs but the match could have gone either way. While Clontarf scored more runs than us it all came down to us losing only 3 wickets to their 6. How Clontarf must hate the sight of Leinster!
Our final game of the season is against Terenure this Wednesday in Rathmines. However, this is now a dead rubber as Clontarf beat our nearest rivals, YMCA, today so we can’t be caught. For the record we are now on 180 points (P 10 W 9 L 1) while YMCA have completed their campaign on 160 points (P 11 W 8 L 3) and Clontarf with one game remaining are on 140 points (P 10 W 7 L 3). Congratulations to the lads on adding the Molins Cup to our Fingal Cup victory thereby completing a famous League & Cup double. The weather forecast is not great for Wednesday but let’s hope we get to play and put the final finishing touch to our League campaign.
A big thank you again to Mark Kelly and Brian Butler for all the work they have put into coaching both the A & B teams this season. I’m sure the success we have enjoyed winning three trophies at Under 11 level must be a source of great satisfaction to Mark & Brian. Much of the groundwork was laid by Brian last year and the Treble would not have been achieved but for all the hard graft back then. Thank you also for all the work done behind the scenes by Colin Rogan in organising fixtures (well done on negotiating all those home matches, Colin) and for attending so many of our matches throughout the summer.
Finally, I should mention that our two Leinster Province representatives, Tom & Conor, did themselves and the Club proud last week. We played Eryri District (a North Wales selection) home and away (in Anglesea on Monday, August 16th and in Pembroke CC on Friday, August 20th) and we won both matches. We suffered a very narrow defeat at the hands of Ulster in Burndennett, Strabane on Wednesday, August 18th losing by only one wicket. Tom & Conor played in all three matches and performed well with both bat and ball.
Last but one blog for this season, I’m afraid. Will do a season review wrap up blog next week. How will we survive without cricket for the next nine months or so? Hope to see you all, if not on Wednesday, then on the Family Fun day at LCC this Sunday.
Michael O’Gorman
August 23rd 2010
