August 2017

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 9^th 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 21^st 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 2^nd 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 5^th. 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.

First up a huge congratulations to the First’s on winning to All Ireland 20/20 cup on Sunday. This was the first time the AI 20/20 has been played and it was a fantastic effort by all concerned. First up was Cork County in the semi-final in Lisburn which we won by 47 runs. Then it was back in the car for a 17 mile drive to Waringstown to play the final against Waringstown. To Drive up, play, win, drive again, play, win and win against one of the best sides in the country on their own patch makes this all the more impressive. So knowing this a very special mention has to go to the travelling supporters. It was a long day, but I’m sure you’ll agree worth every bit of it.

We would also like to extend our thanks to both Waringstown and Lisburn for hosting the Semi-final and the Final. Both clubs were brilliant and deserve great credit for how they ran the day. Thank you both so much.  And finally to Cricket Ireland for organizing the competition. It is a great day to be part of and fine motivation for the provincial competitions.

The other big Cup news from the weekend was of course the 5ths V Lucan. Tenerue got rained on, a lot!! So this has been re-fixed for September 10^th in a venue yet to be decided. We’ll let you know as soon as we hear.

So to this week. And we have games all week.

Tuesday sees the 2nds travel to YMCA for a 20/20 league re-fix. This will be a 4.30 start and crucial as we head in to the season run in. The game in Malahide was rained off last Sunday so the climb up the ladder has to start here. Judging on the reverse fixture, this will be a tight affair.

Wednesday the 6ths take on AIB at home at 1.30pm. This will be a challenge. AIB have just been confirmed as Division 14 champions and sofar, they have swept all before them in this division dropping just a handful of points along the way. But this is our field and if we know anything about captain Aido’s team, they don’t roll over for anyone.

Friday the 3rds travel to Merrion for a 20/20 league game at 5.30. They are still top of Division 5 and had a great weekend last week. They chased 170 in a 20/20 in Adamstown (not many win there) with a super 70 from Juno and a match winning 31, including 18 off one over at the end for Jack McNiece to win by 4 wickets. They backed that up on Saturday with their now normal run of the mill, edge of your seat cricket. Set a better than par 195 by Pembroke they got over the line in exactly the same way as the week before and won by 2 wickets. New 3 time daddy Dan with 48 setup a great platform but we lost wickets at regular intervals. Until Luke and Denty saw us over the line to win by two wickets. One point of note, Matt Buttler must be nearing the record for pad rash. If he hasn’t passed Deller’s record from a few years ago, he must be getting close J.

Saturday is a Big Big day and YMCA will play a big big part. The firsts host YMCA in the Bull Ring needing a win. After a disappointing trip to Pembroke last week, losing by 7 wickets, we need to put together a match winning performance this day. Will still hold a good lead in Division 1 and are favourites. What Sunday showed us is the fight this team has. We should be in no doubt that they’ll come at this match head on with no backward step.

The 3rds go the other way to YMCA. YMCA are 2^nd in this league and beat us in the cup last month. There’s not much between these sides (other than age) and this is a big game in this league. There is no substitute for experience and this will be tight. The winner will be the one who copes best with that.

So that’s not all, the Race Night. The clubs biggest fund raiser and one of the best nights of the year, and an absolute highlight of the Clontarf Social Calendar. This is one night not to be missed. Again the shy and retiring Del will be on the Mic bringing his own brand of entertainment to the night and give you the tips you need to go home empty handed. I really hope you can get down to support and have some fun

On Sunday the 2nds are back in action in the Bull Ring this time against Phoenix at 12 o’clock. The reverse fixture at the start of the season was a great game and they will be looking to reverse that result.

Finally we have the 5ths travelling to Rush for a division 11 match. We all know about these guys.

So a big weekend for the whole club. Best of luck to all playing and to all the Saturday night punters.

Saddle rup.

On August 26th the Race Night returns. After the Firsts home game V YMCA, MC Del-Boy will take the mic and bring us out of the traps. So saddle up, take off the blinkers and get ready fpor the off. Its going to be a cracker.