CRICKET/Irish Senior Cup: Cricket history is about to repeat itself. Last summer, the final of the Royal Liver Irish Senior Cup was an all-southern confrontation for the first time ever, as Malahide defeated Rush at Castle Avenue.
This time around, it will be the turn of Railway Union and North County, who saw off Limavady and Donemana, respectively, in Saturday's semi-finals and now the two Leinster clubs will meet, again at Clontarf, on Friday August 22nd.
Railway had an astonishingly facile eight-wicket victory over Limavady at Park Avenue, and after skipper Adrian Murphy had won the toss and put the northern side into bat, one awaited dynamic batting displays from the likes of Decker Curry, Rickie and Mark McDaid and company.
In fact, Murphy's decision turned out to be a very good one, as Curry's opening partner Garreth Harron departed without scoring in the fourth over with just six runs on the board, and two overs later Curry was gone with only nine runs added.
Ger O'Brien removed both Limavady openers, trapping Harron leg before and then having Curry caught by Peter Johnston.
And Limavady were doomed not to recover from those early set backs; only three of their batsmen - Curry (11), Simon McMichael (12) and Stephen Kilburn (19) reached double figures, three others failed to score, and only for the 25 extras Limavady's total would have been even more miserable.
The Railway bowling and fielding was exemplary. Kevin O'Brien took three for 17, and Ger O'Brien, Roger Whelan and Kenny Carroll collected a brace each, all economically.
Chasing the winning target of 87 runs, Gareth Carroll and Johnston got Railway off to a great start of 49 runs before Carroll was out, and when Johnston followed 68 runs had been scored. Carroll's 26 runs came off 72 balls, Johnston's 25 off 78, including three fours.
Kenny Carroll and Mohammed Tariq had no problems getting the remaining runs required, and Tariq won the match with a splendid boundary struck off the bowling of Rickie McDaid.
At The Holm, North County demolished Donemana, winning by nine wickets, thanks to a superb second-wicket stand by skipper Andre Botha and Conor Armstrong, scoring an undefeated 84 and 83 respectively.
So for the third successive year, the Irish Senior Cup, Ireland's only all-island club competition, is destined to remain in Leinster.
IRISH SENIOR CUP SEMI-FINALS, Park Avenue
LIMAVADY
D Curry c Johnston b G O'Brien 11
G Harron lbw b G O'Brien 0
R Mcdaid c Black b K O'Brien 7
M McDaid b K O'Brien 8
A Christie c Murphy b K Carroll 4
C Hartin b Whelan 0
S McMichael c Murphy b K O'Brien 12
V McDaid b Whelan 0
S Kilburn c Johnston b K Carroll 19
J Thompson run out 0
K Burns not out 1
Extras (LB8, NB3, W14) 25
Total all out, 32.3 overs 87
Fall of wickets: 1/6; 2/15; 3/31; 4/32; 5/37; 6/57; 7/60; 8/78; 9/78; 10/87.
BOWLING: K O'Brien 8-2-17-3; G O'Brien 4-1-13-2; R Whelan 10-1-17-2; M Tariq 4-0-12-0; K Carroll 6.3-2-20-2.
RAILWAY UNION
G Carroll c Harron b V McDaid 26
P Johnston b R McDaid 25
K Carroll not out 15
M Tariq not out 12
Extras B1, LB 4, W6) 11
Total for 2 wickets, 32.2 overs 89
Did not bat: A Murphy, K O'Brien, G Black, G O'Meara, G O'Brien, R Whelan, C Mullen.
R McDaid 7.2-2-23-1; J Thompson 3-0-12-0; V McDaid 9-3-19-1; D Curry 5-1-11-0; S McMichael 5-0-11-0; C Hartin 3-0-8-0.
Railway Union won by 8 wickets.
MAN OF THE MATCH: Roger Whelan (Railway Union)
UMPIRES: M Hawthorne, J McCall.
At the Holm
Donemana: 177 all out, 46.5 overs (J McBrine 41, D Harper 2 for 17, E Morgan 2 for 28).
North County: 182 for 1 (A Botha 84 no, C Armstrong 82 no).
North County won by 9 wickets.
MAN OF THE MATCH: Andre Botha (North County).
Meanwhile, Dom Joyce (Merrion) was not available for selection for Ireland's four-match English tour next week, while Niall O'Brien was available for only the first game. Two emerging players - Johnny Thompson (Glendermott) and Boyd Rankin (Bready) - have been selected in the 14-man squad.
IRELAND SQUAD (for tour of England): J Molins (Phoenix, capt.), C Armstrong (North County), A Botha (North County), J Bray (Phoenix), J Bushe (w/k, Waringstown), R Coetzee (Belfast Harlequins), P Gillespie (Strabane), K McCallan (Cliftonville), J Mooney (North County), P Mooney (North County), N O'Brien (w/k, Railway Union and Kent), B Rankin (Bready), J Thompson (Glendermott), A White (North Down).
Tour: Monday, August 18th: v Friends of Arundel at Arundel; Tuesday, August 19th: v MCC at Lord's); Wednesday, August 20th: v Free Foresters at Eton College; Thursday, August 21st: v Club Cricket Conference at Shenley.
