Hills fail to come alive

Their unbeaten, four-match record in the Leinster 50 Overs League did not provide The Hills with a winning platform at Milverton…

Their unbeaten, four-match record in the Leinster 50 Overs League did not provide The Hills with a winning platform at Milverton last Saturday, when they tamely succumbed to Limavady in the second round of the Irish Senior Cup, sponsored by Royal Liver.

The start was delayed and the match was reduced to 46 overs a side, but Limavady had over five overs to spare at the end, as the main exercise most of the home batsmen got was walking out to and back from the middle.

Decker Curry (54 balls, one six, four fours) and Gareth Harron put on 60 for the first wicket, and after that Ivan Smyth was Limavady's top-scorer with 44 runs, off 40 deliveries and including four fours.

Mark McDaid and Richard McDaid made useful, if modest, contributions, while Mark Clinton (3 for 39) and Stephen Archer (3 for 44) did the principal bowling damage for The Hills.

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Chasing Limavady's total of 194, The Hills were left with something of a mountain to climb when five wickets were down with a paltry 44 runs on the board. Barry Archer, in at first wicket down and the eighth wicket to fall, was the only batsman to offer real resistance, and in his top-scoring innings of 45 he faced 78 balls and hit three fours.