CRICKET/Irish Senior Cup: For the first time in its 20-year-old history, the upcoming final of the Royal Liver Irish Senior Cup will be an all-Dublin affair, and a Dublin northside confrontation, what's more. On Saturday, Malahide and Rush pulled off notable home victories over Donemana and Downpatrick, respectively, and now will meet in the final at Castle Avenue next Friday week, August 23rd. Karl Johnston reports
Former Scotland international Jim Govan was Malahide's ace and man of the match, capturing six for 46 off his regulation 15 overs as Donemana were shunted out for 164, and then scoring an invaluable 41 in the chase. Damien Ryan took two wickets as George Walker (45) and Richard Kee (40) were Donemana's only run-scorers of note.
When their first four batsmen were out at 114 in the 43rd over, Malahide were in potential trouble. But a rapid 25 from Johnny Pryor put them back on track and brothers Anto and Robert Weir did the rest, Robert hitting the winning runs off the last ball of the penultimate over.
At Kenure, Rush enjoyed an emphatic win over Downpatrick, coasting home by seven wickets. Gavin Morgan's four for 53 and subsequent half-century earned him the man of the match award, while skipper Naseer Shaukat top-scored with an unbeaten 59.
