studaultrey.com

Review of Divisions 1 & 2, weekend 27th - 29th August; review of weekend 3rd September

There was plenty of action in Division 1 last weekend, everywhere but at Milverton.  The groundsman (no, not l'equipage qui rit, but l'equipage qui gronde) had omitted to cover the pitch and surrounds, and it got so wet that play wasn't possible at all.  This suited neither The Hills, who needed a win to set up a winner-takes-all showdown with Railway Union on the last day of the season, nor YMCA, who needed the points in their bid to avoid relegation.

YMCA, however, could take heart from events in the Phoenix Park, which staged one of the most topsy-turvy games of the season.  North County won the toss, batted, and were reduced to 33-5 by David Langford-Smith and Osama Khan.  Then Shane Getkate and Josh Reeves added 83 before Getkate fell to Jeremy Bray for 44, Brayser having discarded the pads in order to have a bowl.  Leg spinner Sadaf Raza then removed 8, 9 and 10 for a further 23 runs, but Niall McGovern hung around with Reeves while 41 runs were added.  County finished on 180 off 48.4 overs, Reeves 79*.  Lanky finished with 4/35 and Raza 4/22.

Rain reduced the target to 167 off 41 overs, and County quickly got amongst Phoenix, Mooney and Reeves having them 30-6.  Jeremy Bray ground it out, first with Des O'Leary, then with Osama Khan, to keep Phoenix with an outside chance.  But Bray was lbw to Greg Hay (what odds that wasn't out?!) for 36, Raza couldn't keep out Adam Coughlan, leaving Khan 38* and Phoenix all out for 131.

Up Cold Blow Lane, Railway easily disposed of their neighbours from the other side of Park Avenue.  Put in to bat, Pembroke lost two early wickets to Paddy Conliffe, but rallied through 36 from skipper Stephen Moreton, 73 from pro Jono Hickey, and 30 from Barry McCarthy.  However, when the innings closed after 47 overs they had reached only 223-8.  Conliffe took 3/45 and Dhruv Kapoor 3/53.  More rain reduced the match to one of 38 overs with a target of 201 to win, and the Railway openers didn't hang around.  Kenny Carroll notched 86, Tom Fisher 54, and the in-form Conor Mullen 29* as the Wheeltappers and Shunters got home for the loss of three wickets inside 33 overs.

On Monday the refixed Clontarf v Phoenix match took place, 'Tarf conceding ground advantage and fielding only half a first XI.  Robert Forrest contributed an aggressive 63 at the top of the order, but his dismissal started a slide from 93-2 to 123-7 (Alex Cusack 32).  Niall Delany (35) and Matt D'Arcy (37) showed real guts and no little quality as they added 67, but both were out with an over of each other, and Clontarf were all out for 197 in 44.4 overs.  Five of the Phoenix top six were back in the pav for 30 (Cusack 3/24), Jeremy Bray should have joined them but was reprieved on 6, and he and Lanky added 75.  There was still a long way to go when Langford-Smith was out for 39, and at 129-8 the win seemed very remote.  But Bray cut out all error, Masud Ahmed went for his shots, and the pair got home with nine balls to spare, Bray 60* and Masud Ahmed 41*.  Matt D'Arcy completed a fine match with 3/42.

In Division 2 on Saturday, Leinster entertained Malahide at Rathmines, and must have been slightly worried when the Village People were 91-2 (Nick Turner 23) with Jimmy Govan going strong.  But Hugh McDonnell and Zeeshan worked their way through the middle order, and only 20 from Peter Saville held them up as they bowled Malahide out for 170, Govan making 59 and Anton Scholtz taking 3/12.  Rain reduced the target to 150 off 37 overs, and after losing Mark Jones, caught behind for 17, Zac Curtis (55*) and Scholtz (62*) took their time, making sure they were ahead of the D/L par scores, finally accelerating to 151-1 in the 30th over.

Up the Rathgar Road, Terenure took advantage of a weak The Hills 2 side that could only field ten men.  Kenny McDonald scored 86, opening partner C Moore 67, Andre Botha 91 and Nathan Carroll 60 as they reached 359-6 in their 50 overs.  Rain reduced the target to 332 in 44 overs.  Openers Amer Raza (39) and Ajaz Farooqi (46) gave it a go, as did William Archer (52) and Emmet Branagan (33) in the middle order.  The Hills 2 were all out for 227 in the 41st over, Plates Brennan taking 3/37.

Up in their Cabra home on DNS, Old Belvedere got to a solid 226 all out in 45 overs thanks to 37 from Simmi Singh, 79 from Fullah Yousafzai, 24 from Shakrukh Ahmed and 31 from Willie Wides.  For Rush, Eoghan Conway took 4/45 and I note that Shahid bowled nine overs without getting the yips and took 3/39.  Rain reduced the Rush target to 194 from 36 overs, which they achieved for the loss of five wickets after a solid start fron Sean Monks (30) and Niall Mullen (57) followed by 28 from Conway and 25 from Tipu Gull.

On Sunday is was the turn of North County 2 to take the M7/M8 to the second city (third city if you're a Provo).  North County had a hit and recovered from 29-4 (Andy Wootton 3/12) to reach 95-4.  Then Daniel Nolan was out for 22, and the other wickets added just fifteen (Terry Richardson 44).  For Cork County, George Barry took 4/27.  Terry Richardson then dismissed Shannon Madden and Robert Duggan, but Ross Durity, 37* and Barry, 46, saw the Munstermen home by seven wickets.

The Division 1 results leave Pembroke relegated, to be joined by the losers of YMCA v Phoenix.  The weather forecast for Saturday isn't great, and a no result would see YMCA make the drop.  Should Railway Union beat The Hills at Park Avenue, they will be champions.  Should they lose, The Hills might be champions, but so might North County, with a win over Clontarf, or Merrion, with awin over Pembroke.

The weather forecast is for the overnight rain to clear through Saturday afternoon, so it's highly likely that if play is possible, the matches will be abbreviated.  You can be absolutely sure that Phoenix and Railway will play only if they have to, and that YMCA, The Hills, Merrion and North County will be desperate to play.  The only thing I will predict is that the umpires are going to be under pressure, and will doubtless get the blame when things don't go each team's way.  Plus ca change.

In Division 2, the winner of Leinster v Terenure becomes champion, but both teams are already promoted.  Old Belvedere and North County 2 are already relegated.  The Rush v Malahide fixture doesn't matter to anyone except the two teams.  I suspect there might be an early start in each bar.