Sport

Railway Union on track for tough test

Cricket: The Bob Kerr All-Ireland Senior Cup has morphed into a local affair as this weekend's semi-finals are contested by …

Richard Gillis
Sat Aug 04 2007 - 01:00

Cricket:The Bob Kerr All-Ireland Senior Cup has morphed into a local affair as this weekend's semi-finals are contested by four Leinster teams.

Railway Union visit North County in a potentially explosive tie, bringing together several internationals on both sides. Niall O'Brien makes a rare appearance for Railway Union, joining his brother Kevin, Trent Johnston and Kenny Carroll in the team. The Mooney brothers, John and Kevin, will be in waiting, alongside Andre Botha and Reinhard Strydom, who made a good impression for Ireland A against Malahide this week. There is potential for a repeat of last year's final, where Union beat Rush in the last over.

Rush travel to play The Hills, who have Jeremy Bray coming off a blistering unbeaten century in the previous round's defeat of Malahide. William Porterfield lines up for Rush with the prolific Naz Shaukat and Shahid Iqbal. Keeping wicket is the 19-year-old Fintan McAllister, another Ireland A player. Both games start at 1pm.

The final takes place at Castle Avenue on August 31st, at 11am.

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Other highlights of the week ahead include the final of the LVH Alan Murray Twenty20 Cup between The Hills and Clontarf at Park Avenue, sure to be a popular occasion.

Coming quickly on the heels is the Antalis Senior Cup final, between Merrion and Clontarf at Rathmines. The new date is August 18th, at 10.30am.

The game in Ireland looks in good hands as the under-15 team were victorious over their Scottish counterparts. Malahide's Shane Getkate top-scored with 71 in the Irish total of 166 all out in 43.5 overs.

He was well supported by Dean Mehaffey (20) as the pair shared a 76-run partnership for the third wicket. Jason van der Merwe, who scored 25, also had a productive partnership with Getkate, as they added 52 for the second wicket after the early loss of Russell.

Spinner Jonathan Andrews was among the wickets, and finished with 3 for 31. Getkate completed a fine all-round performance by taking 2/17, while Eoghan Conway 2/21, and Harry Doyle 1/17, were the other wicket takers.

Ireland have now won the European Under-15 Championships for a record eighth successive season, and have already this year won both the under-19 and under-23 titles.

Elsewhere, Ireland have named their squad for the InterContinental Cup clash with Scotland, in Belfast next week. The holders begin the defence of their trophy from August 9th-12th.

Boyd Rankin is again absent from the squad, but Ireland are boosted by the availability of star batsman Eoin Morgan, and wicket-keeper Niall O'Brien. There is also a place in the 12 for leg spinner Greg Thompson, who has been in action for Ireland A against the MCC in Malahide this week.

IRELAND SQUAD(v Scotland, InterContinental Cup, Belfast, August 9th-12th): Trent Johnston (Railway Union, capt), Andre Botha (North County), Alex Cusack (Clontarf), Thinus Fourie (Merrion), Dave Langford-Smith (Phoenix), Eoin Morgan (Middlesex), Kyle Mc Callan (Waringstown), Kevin O'Brien (Railway Union), Niall O' Brien (Northants), Greg Thompson (Lisburn), William Porterfield (Rush), Andrew White (Instonians).