The damp outfield at Castle Avenue with an early start of the Antalis Senior Cup final caused little concern as Clontarf's captain Greg Molins won the toss and immediately decided to bat. He may have had second thoughts as he lost opener Adrian Darcy in the first over bowled leg stump by Denver DeCruz and then saw Don Rigby dropped the first ball he faced the next over. Worse was to come as Clontarf slumped to 64 for 4. It was only a fifth wicket stand of 84 between Molins and Rigby that helped Clontarf reach a target of 176 that looked on the face of it well under par in a game where the bowlers dominated.Dom Rigby ending up with an impressive 84 while North County's John Mooney with 3 for 32 and Eddie Richardson 2 for 14 along with Denver De Cruz 3 for 47 were the pick of an impressive bowling attack.
The question on everyone's lips around the pavillion could clearly be heard "was the Clontarf total enough?" The answer wasn't long coming as County's top three batsmen were back in the hutch for just 36 and captain Andre Botha retired hurt with a doubt to whether he would return. Richie Lawrence and Ciaran Garry recorded the highest partnership of the innings with 36,as County drew closer to the total.But once again the bowlers dominated with Andrew Poynter returning 3 for 14 from just 7 overs and Alex Cusack with 3 for 30 supported by some sharp leg spin by Rod Hokin.When Botha returned to the crease with 9 wickets down and just himself and Harper at the crease County still needed 43 to win. With just a few more runs added, Cusack dealt the final blow removing Harper leaving North County 32 short of the run chase.
Overall a very intensive final which proved to favour the bowlers for once. The highest individual scores on either side came from Clontarf's Rigby (84) and Molins (27).
Man of the Match Dom Rigby.
Antalis Leinster Senior Cup Final
at Castle Avenue
Toss: Clontarf
CLONTARF
A D'Arcy b d'Cruz 0
D Rigby b Lawrence 84
R Hokin c D Armstrong b d'Cruz 6
A Cusack lbw b Richardson 20
AD Poynter c&b Richardson 0
* GL Molins c Strydom b Mooney 27
+ B Coghlan b Mooney 0
J Morrissey c&b Lawrence 1
S Islam lbw b Mooney 3
E Randall lbw b d'Cruz 7
N Delany not out 16
Extras (8w, 3lb, 1nb) 12
TOTAL (all out, 58.2overs) 176
Fall: 0,12,64,64,148,148,150,152,155,176
Bowling: d'Cruz 10.2-1-47-3, Botha 8-2-10-0, Mooney 10-1-32-3, Richardson 8-2-14-2, Strydom 6-0-22-0, Lawrence 12-2-36-2, Harper 4-0-12-0
NORTH COUNTY
C Armstrong c Coghlan b Morrissey 11
R Strydom lbw b Cusack 13
B Shiels c Hokin b Cusack 4
* A Botha not out 15
(retired ill and returned later)
R Lawrence b Hokin 19
J Mooney c D'Arcy b Delany 4
C Garry c Morrissey b Poynter 25
+ D Armstrong lbw b Morrissey 2
D d'Cruz c&b Poynter 10
E Richardson c Randall b Poynter 13
D Harper c Delany b Cusack 8
Extras (9w,1nb, 7lb,4b) 21
TOTAL (all out, 49.5 overs) 145
Fall: 21,23,36,52,98,107,109,133,134,145
Bowling: Cusack 10.5-1-30-3, Morrissey 12-4-30-2, Delany 5-1-22-1, Hokin 10-2-16-1, Molins 4-0-12-0, Poynter 7-1-14-3, Islam 1-0-10-0
Umpires: P Thew, L Fourie
Clontarf won by 31 runs
Man of the Match: Dom Rigby