CRICKET: Railway Union, enjoying one of their best seasons of recent years, have the chance to translate that good form into glassware as they take on Malahide in the final of the Dublin Grass Machinery League tomorrow. By chance, Malahide was preselected as the venue, so the Villagers will be enjoying home advantage, but Railway will be confident they have the expertise to bring the trophy back to Park Avenue.
Captain Kenny Carroll will certainly not be worried about the venue - he scored a half-century there on Wednesday while playing for Ireland A against the MCC, and his confidence will have been suitably buoyed by that performance.
Carroll will also have another Ireland A player, Roger Whelan, to call on, as well as full international Kevin O'Brien. And with Adrian Murphy, Conor Mullen, John Anderson and John Moffat also named in the side this is a very strong Railway outfit.
"Were having a very good year so far," said Railway president Maurice Whelan, father of opening bowler Roger.
"So far, we are unbeaten after three matches in the WM League, we are in this final and also in the semi-final of the LHW 20/20 Cup. Our fielding and batting have been excellent this season. There is still room for improvement in our bowling, but overall I am very pleased."
But despite a couple of recent defeats, Malahide will also go into tomorrow's final with their tails up. Australian Darren Wotherspoon has been a good acquisition, while Mike O'Brien has also been scoring heavily with the bat.
With fewer stars, captain Peter Saville knows he has his work cut out, but on home turf they won't be turned over as easily as against North County in the semi-final of the Senior Cup last week at Inch, where they were all out for little more than 100.
Play starts at noon and there will be no space for parking at the venue, but cars will be accommodated in the grounds of Malahide Castle next door.
Also tomorrow, at Milverton The Hills play Rush in the semi-final of the Antalis Senior Cup for the right to play North County in the decider on July 29th.
Elsewhere, it is a busy day today with the second round of the Irish Senior Cup. In what could be match of the day, Clontarf travel to Limavady to take on the 2004 champions.
Clontarf have not had a season to remember, but a big win over YMCA in the league last week will have emboldened the men from Castle Avenue and, crucially, Trent Johnston is in form with both bat and ball.
Champions North County make the relatively short trip to Claremont Road to play a weakened YM team. Much will depend on Angus Dunlop, Carl Hosford, Esham Ahmed and Stewart Taylor if they are to avoid a convincing defeat.
Eglinton and Ireland opening batsman Jeremy Bray will be back in his old stomping ground in the Phoenix Park to take on his former club-mates. David Langford-Smith, Jason Molins and co will have seen how devastating Bray can be at that venue but this time will be trying to limit the damage. It could be fascinating.
Ardmore host Strabane, Railway Union make the trip to Bready, North Down play Rush at Comber and Cliftonville travel to The Hills.
MALAHIDE (v Railway Union, tomorrow, at Malahide, noon): P Saville, J Pryor, D Wotherspoon, D Ryan, C Riches, M O'Brien, P Markey, A Pyne, S Smith, C Gerathy, S Singh. RAILWAY UNION: K Carroll, J Anderson, K O'Brien, A Murphy, C Mullen, M Tariq, G Black, T Townsend, R Whelan, J Moffat, J Rogan.
FIXTURES: Saturday: Irish Senior Cup, second round (1pm): Lurgan v Instonians, Pollock Park; Ardmore v Strabane, Green Road; Bready v Railway Union, Bready; North Down v Rush, Comber; The Hills v Cliftonville, Milverton; YMCA v North County, Claremont Road; Limavady v Clontarf, Limavady; Phoenix v Eglinton, Phoenix Park. WM League (1pm) Section B: Pembroke v CYM, Sydney Parade.
Tomorrow: DGM 45 Overs League (final, noon): Malahide v Railway Union, Malahide. Antalis Senior Cup (semi-final, 11am) The Hills v Rush, Milverton.
