Weekend Fixtures

As we head in to September and the days get shorter we know we are at the business end and every game means something.

I would like to thank everybody who attended the Race Night and helped make it so much fun. It was a great fundraiser and a great night. Special thanks must be extended to all of the race sponsors. Each and everyone was very generous and the night cannot happen without you.

We would also like to thank the members who gave up their time to help during the night especially the ticket sellers and Peter and Andrew as the money men. Without your volunteering and the great jobs you all do the night would not be what it is.

Finally, Del-Boy. The time and effort Del puts into this is second to none, it’s not a one night deal, weeks of prep go into this to make sure it runs like clockwork. His passion for racing flows through the mic and his wit and banter keep everyone on their toes and goes a long way to making this night a continued success. I hope he can continue for many years.

Back to the cricket. The 5ths Cup Final replay has now been fixed for Sep 10th in Malahide. Big thanks to our friends the Villagers for taking this game on at short notice it is very much appreciated. I hope we can lend big support

The Frist’s have a weekend off due to the Hills in the Irish Senior Cup Final. Clontarf wishes you the best of luck and will be backing you all the way. This means that the final league game against The Hills will now take place on September 9th in The Vineyard.

The Seconds are coming of the back of a good week with wins against YMCA and Phoenix in the league. The win on Sunday was particularly impressive for the fight and team sprit on display. Fielding first Phoenix made their way to 218. Which we reckoned was a little under par. Special mention to 17 year old Samran who bowled with skill and control for figures of 2 for 24 off 7. Asim and Nibble also picked up 2 each and Luke continued his good form without getting the rewards he may have deserved. Batting Juno reminded everybody of what he can do with a brilliant 67 to get us off to a fast start in the 219 run chase with a 101 opening stand with Robbie. At 154 for 3 we looked to be cruising but with the wicker of VJ for 32 we started to lose our way a little and found ourselves 195 for 8, but Nibble was still there and looking completely unflappable. He just needed a buddy. Enter C Devilly the day before his 21st birthday. Despite been dropped  twice early on (catches win matches) himself and Nibbler went about the job with the minimum of fuss while at the same time keeping the fans on the edge. Nibbler (batting at 5) finished with a fantastic and composed 42 not out and Cormack a gritty 12 not out. A really good win and something to take into this weekend and keep fighting.

To this weekend they host league leaders Leinster on Sunday at 12 in the Bull Ring. Having just lifted themselves off the bottom this is a fine chance for the Cup winners to keep the momentum going.

The 3rds are heading out to Balbriggan also on Sunday for a 12 start. The 3rds also had a good week with wins against Merrion (20/20 refix) on Friday followed up with a full point win over League rivals YMCA the next day and keeping a hold of top stop in Division 5. I was at the Merrion game on Friday and it has to be up there with the best games so far this season. Merrion got off to a flyer despite losing an early wicket and looking good. Enter Ian Smilie (who had informed he probably wouldn’t bowl) to pick up 2 wickets in his first over followed by a wicket in the next over from Aido, 43 for 1 was suddenly 47 for 4. The wickets continued to fall interspersed with some good hitting, but Merrion couldn’t get that partnership together to really post a big score. The wickets were shared Denty with 3, Ian, Aido and Luke with 2 each and Punky with the 1. The half time score of 119 looked a little short. But as usual the 3rds like to keep things interesting. So 2 early run outs (Juno 8 and Rana 0) coupled with Damo 1 and Shaf 0 saw us 18 for 4 and all of a sudden 120 looks a long way off. D Devilly batting at 4 was joined by Luke to inject some stability with a 59 run partnership. But when Luke fell to a good catch for 17, followed by Smillie for 10 things were getting tight. The overs were ticking by, the run rate going up, it had become a worry. Aido came in a smashed a quick 15 to bring it back to us. All the while Devilly the youngest has been scoring freely and reached 40 not almost unnoticed. 109 for 7 and Denty arrives with 1.3 overs to get 11. 9 balls later, the last ball of the game, 2 left to win Devilly pulls to square leg for 4 and brings up his 50. I can’t say enough about this knock. It was simply brilliant, perfectly timed and risk free. A real lesson for everybody else. If we had a player of the week, no competition!

The 4ths are at home on Saturday in the first of what are effectively 2 cup finals. They sit 2nd in the league just a few percent behind Swords. Their 2 remaining games are against Swords!!!! It doesn’t get better than that. I urge you all to make your way down on Saturday at 12.30 to support the team. If they can win this, it’s in their hands for the reverse fixture next week in Swords

Lastly, next week we host the final Inter Pro first calls game of the season with Leinster playing Northern Knights from Tuesday the 5th. Looking at the IPC table The Lightning are currently in third place, eight points behind leaders the Northern Knights, but play their game in hand this week. The match in Clontarf has the potential to be a winner takes all affair.

Thanks again to you all for the fantastic support this season, let’s keep it up for the final few weekends.