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Clontarf v Merrion: Division 1 match played at Castle Avenue on Wednesday 8th September

I turned up at Castle Avenue on Wednesday morning to find the Merrion lads playing a game of football, the umpires surveying a partly exposed pitch, and a few Clontarf players rather disinterestedly reading the paper.

Clontarf had two games left to play, this one and one with Malahide on Saturday.  If this one were a no result they couldn't be relegated.  If they lost them both they could be relegated if they took less than four points from the two games.

The pitch was OK apart from a wet patch where the right-arm over bowler lands coming from the city end.  So just one strategically sited wet patch was preventing a prompt start.  Umpires Jim McGeehan and JJ Labushagne decided on an 11:45 start to a 48-over match.

Joe Morrissey won the toss and decided to bowl, notwithstanding the wet patch and the absence of Adrian D'Arcy and Vijay Gopal, still on their way.  Joe Morrissey came in to bowl from the city end, slipped on the wet patch, and was put away for four by Ben Ackland.

The next ball was a good one, a lifter through to Stuart Poynter, and Joe remembered to slip after delivery.  The third ball wasn't quite a half-volley, and Ackland flat-batted it to Richard Forrest at point.  Joe remembered to slip before celebrating.

Greg Clarence didn't make it to the crease until 12:17, because groundsman Alan Delany was called to try to repair the wet patch.  Now a 44-over match, Dom Joyce holed out to Eoghan Delany off Niall Delany, and then Clarence nicked off to make it 8-3 in the second over.

JoMo was now slipping a lot less, if he remembered to slip at all, and bowled Kade Beasley for seven to make it 26-4.  He repeated the trick on Damian Poder, 27-5, and the now full Clontarf side tried to press home their advantage, making sure not to slip up.

But JoMo did when he dropped Rory Allwright on 8, and with John Anderson batting very fluently, the score had got to 68-5 off 19 overs at 13:35 when a heavy shower halted play.  The shower lasted no more than a quarter of an hour, but the ground needed time to dry.

Let's take tea now and stop counting down the overs, said the umpires, to find out that that wasn't possible.  Why not, they asked?  After all, tea was scheduled for 14:15.  Anybody would think Clontarf didn't want play this match!  Of course, nobody really thought that, did they?

Tea appeared, supervised by Frances McDermott, and very nice it was too.  Play resumed at 15:00 in what was now a 36-over match.  Anderson continued to play his shots and place the ball well, although he lost Allwright for 19 with the score on 82, run out after a good bit of fielding by Hugo Whelan.

Now he was joined by Simon Morrissey who, like his brother, bats left-handed and very positively, but unlike his brother always wants to play.  Anderson reached his fifty out of a hundred, and with ten overs left the score was 107-6.  The pair pressed on, Simon surviving a caught-and-bowled chance on 13.

Finally the younger Morrissey took one liberty too many and was caught by the younger Forrest off Gopal for 25.  In the penultimate over Anderson, trying to get to his ton, swung JoMo to Rod Hokin for an excellent 93, Alex Chetkovich was bowled by Bill Coghlan for 2, and the innings closed on 168-9.

Joe Morrissey's figures were 8-4-19-4, and Niall Delany took 2/27 off his seven overs.  The D/L calculations produced a target score of 161 to win, which didn't please Anderson.  It was explained that D/L penalises the batting side which loses several wickets before the interruptions because it make such a fine recovery as Merrion's much less likely, and D/L is calculated from what happens on average.

Clontarf were quickly 10-2, Poynter caught behind and Coghlan well taken at slip by Anderson.  Rod Hokin dug in, and he and Eoghan Delany had taken the score to 46 when, in his final over, Simon Morrissey bowled Delany for 19, to finish with 2/27, and then Greg Clarence bowled Richard Forrest for a duck.

Hokin ground on in the company off Adrian D'Arcy, and with ten overs to go 'Tarf were 76-4, with only one bonus point.  While Hokin continued his stately run-an-over progress, D'Arcy lofted Damain Poder to Clarence for 11 and Vijay Gopal was bowled by Poder for 8 to make the score 98-6.

Gopal takes forever to take guard, almost as long as Jonathan Trott, and twice Anderson bowled to him before he was ready.  He didn't like it when the umpire told him that he just had to be ready, and carried on the dispute after the match.  If you hear that Clontarf have conceded penalty runs for time-wasting, you might look to see if Vijay is on the team sheet and Jim McGeehan is umpiring!

With four overs left 'Tarf had got to 111-6, still with only two bonus points.  Joe Morrissey took out the driver, Rod Hokin was jolted from his torpor, and 35 runs were added to give the home side all five bonus points and the visitors the twenty win points.  Morrissey made 26 and Hokin 44*.

Greg Clarence took 1/11 off seven, Chetkovich 2/24 off six and Poder 2/23 off five.  One of 'Tarf's five bonus points came from Willie Wides, who was third-highest scorer on 23.  Merrion got their warm-up before Saturday's Irish Senior Cup Final, and Clontarf ensured their Division 1 survival.  The only losers were Malahide.