August 2017

The big weekends have been coming thick and fast and this weekend is no different.

We’ll go Team by Team

The 1^st‘s have a massive weekend coming up. The League has certainly tightened up of the past couple of weeks with both Leinster and The Hills coming up behind us, this makes Saturdays game away to Pembroke HUGE. Couple this with Pembroke needing wins to secure their division 1 status it is all to play for. We are now into early starts so this kicks off at 12pm

On Sunday it is the All Ireland 20/20 Finals Day. This is the first incarnation of the AI 20/20 and we qualified via winning the Leinster 20/20. First up we take on Munster Champions Cork County at 11am in Lisburn. If we make it through that, there a 15/16 mile trip back down the road to Waringstown take on either Waringstown or Bready at about 4pm. All support is welcome, it’s going to be a busy day

Now the 2nds on Sunday. They had a very good game mid-week falling just short against a Lewis (2 of them) inspired YMCA and picked up 5 points in the battle to avoid relegation. So it’s off to Malahide with them. The Villagers are down the wrong end with us and this game is simply a double pointer.

The 3rds are bringing the crowds back. Their brand of edge of the seat cricket is putting years on me, and years I don’t need!! Last weekend they chased down 210 in 45 overs to win by 2 wickets and keep setting the pace at the top of Div 5. A good 50 from Rana as wickets fell all around him saw us about 70 odd for 6 enter the UN!! Luke 77 not out, Smiles 14 and Denty 31 not out, between them they dragged this one back kicking a screaming. Special mention to Luke who proved the pressure makes diamonds. This week they’re on Friday in Adamstown at 6 in a 20/20 league re-fix and on Saturday they host Pembroke at 12.30 in the Bull Ring. A couple of wins will go a long way.

On Sunday the 4ths are in the Bull Ring hosting Knockharley 2nds at 12.30. The 4ths have had a great year but suffered a couple of blips of late. They still sit top of the league but Swords are not far behind and a win this weekend will be crucial in maintaining a crack at the title especially with a game against Swords still to come.

On Thursday the 5ths host the Hills 3rds in Castle Avenue at 1pm. The 5ths sit mid table at the moment and their league campaign has so far been a great learning curve for some of our young players with the likes of David, Jack, Sully and Yousf all making big and consistent contributions. This will just be a taster of what’s to come. On Sunday in Terenure it’s the big one. The 5ths take on Lucan in the Cup Final. These 2 have history and both have deservedly made the final. If you are able please head southside to lend your support. It will be epic

The 6ths are playing on Tuesday evening at home V Castleknock and also on Saturday with a first trip to Gory. They had a great win over the weekend the highlight of which by popular vote was the debut of Ireland under 17 international Anna Kirk. After a good showing with the bat Anna came out to open the bowling and walked off with a 3 for in her pocket

So that’s 9 games (maybe 10) over 5 days with 6 teams. Can I take this opportunity to thank all the captains and everybody involved in making this and every other match happen. It takes a tremendous off the field effort to pull this all together, from the boardroom to the tearoom, from the mower to the score book and that volunteering should not be underestimated, it shows the great Clontarf sprit. #BleedredandBlue

Let’s hope the weather plays ball

Huge congratulations to the Men’s 2^nd team for a fantastic win in the rain affected Senior Cup final against North County. It was a perfectly timed run chase against a very good County team who play some excellent cricket on the day.

We have another Cup Final coming up on Friday evening. The Women’s 2^nd team take on Leinster 3rds in Rathmines with a 5pm start. Best of luck and I hope the Clontarf will be out in force.

On Thursday the 3^rd our Women’s 1^st team travel to Malahide for a Division 2 clash at 6.30pm.

On Wednesday the 4ths host Pembroke at 1pm in the Bull Ring. The 4ths are currently top of Division 8 and now we’re into the business end of the season. A win here will put them in a great position for the run in.

For the Bank Holiday weekend in the Bull Ring we have the 1^st on Saturday, the 2^nd’s on Sunday and the 1^st’s again on Monday.

On Saturday the 1^st’s will host Leinster at the slightly earlier start time of 12.30. After weeks of 20/20 this marks the return to 50 over cricket. Our Firsts are top with 7 wins from 8 games (the loss came in a refixed 20/20) and have a 45 point gap to 2^nd place, but no one ever won a league in August. Leinster are a good side and have themselves hit a good run of form in recent weeks. This will be a good challenge. They follow that up on Monday when they host Cork County. The Munster men have struggled so far this season but it’s worth remembering that all teams in Division 1 deserve to be there and none should be taken lightly. Corks finish to last season in Division 2 to gain promotion gives the insight you need to the fight in the team.

Sunday see’s the 2^nd’s host Merrion at 12.30. Merrion are 3^rd in the league (they were most people’s tip for the top at the start) and are a very strong side. Our 2nds are bottom and they have underperformed in the league to date. Boyed by the Cup win last Sunday and with some key players coming to form at the right time we can rightly expect a good game and to see a team play to their potential.

Now to the away games.

The 6ths head up the motorway to Laois on Saturday. They had a hard weekend just falling short in the cup semi-final on Saturday and a loss to Adamstown in Mount Temple on Sunday. The trip to Laois is coming at a good time for them to bounce back. They are sitting mid table in Division 14 after getting promoted last season and with some good young players in the side and under the stewardship of captain Aido can go toe to toe with anyone in this league.

On Sunday the 5ths will replay their rained off Cup Semi-Final of last weekend (pending OCC approval). They will head back to North County in great form. Again a side with plenty of good young players coupled with accomplished experience. They were in a great position last week and will aim for a repeat, but we don’t have to tell anyone what a north county side can bring to a game. This is the game of the weekend.

On Monday the 4ths travel to Adamstown. This is a tough place to win matches, but we have to install the 4ths as favourites. Their league form (to date) has been excellent and they are the team to beat in Division 8.

Best of luck to everybody playing this weekend and especially the 2 sides in the cup, The Women’s 2nds in Friday’s final and the 5^ths in Sundays Semi-Final.

Hope to see you at some games.