: Welcome to Malahide Cricket Club :

The Girls’ Under 13 team followed their impressive cup win 2 weeks ago against Merrion with a solid win in the league against the same side in the Village on a misty but balmy Sunday morning.

The line up boasting 4 girls from the cup winning Under 15 team the previous day in Sandyford and 3 girls from the ladies 2nd team on Thursday night. The team saw 5 changes from the Malahide team of 2 weeks previously, including 4 under 11’s in the squad as the holiday season took its toll and the club’s strength in depth was tested. Loosing the toss and being sent into bat it was probably the first time a pair of Emilys’ opened the batting for a Malahide team.

Faced with some disciplined bowling from the opening bowling pair of Merrion the girls struggled to push the score to 13 after the first 4 overs. The second pair of Margaret and Sinead sensing that a similar score would not be sufficient at the end upped the scoring rate with another 21 runs added but the extra risk resulted in the loss of Sinead’s wicket twice as she gloved to the WK trying to hit well pitched balls to the boundary. She can take comfort from the 2 boundaries she did hit. Niamh McN and Adine added another 17 runs in their 4 overs with Adine being bowled trying a sweep shot on her final ball. They were followed by Sorcha and Grace who again increased the total with 18 runs scored and no wickets lost. However it was the last pair of Leanne and young Niamh OCM, in as a batting substitute for the left hand injured Fiona G, who got the home crowd off their seats and gave a demonstration to both teams in how to hit, call and run singles, between them they scored 12 singles in adding a quick fire 25 runs. They pushed the overall total up to an impressive 194 for the loss of 3 wickets posting a target of 179 for Merrion to chase.

Merrion’s policy of keeping their strong batters together may have worked on another day but the 7 bowlers, including 3 of the Under 11’s, used by Captain Sorcha did not allow them to gain any foothold and each of their first 4 pairings were behind with the run rate scoring only 47 runs in the first 16 overs. The last pairing knowing they had to push the rate on did manage to add 28 runs in an exciting final 4 overs but with the low scores and 2 bowled wickets from the earlier pairings it proved not to be enough reaching a final score of 175, loosing by 14 runs overall as they were penalised 10 runs for the 2 wicket losses.

Excellent bowling returns from Fiona with 4 overs, 1 maiden and 1 wicket for 7 runs added to Emily O’C’s 4 overs, 1 maiden and 1 for 10 were the stand out figures. Margaret’s 3 overs for 11 runs, Adine’s 3 for 10 runs, Sorcha’s 2 for 6 runs, Grace’s 2 for 7 and Emily F’s 2 for 15 completed the impressive bowling stats. Congratulations to Grace for making her Under 13 debut looking totally at ease whether in the field, bowling or batting. Thanks to Lorraine for scoring, Sandra for the biscuits and the rest of the supporters for the coffee, team encouragement and tidy up.

28th June 2009 Under 13 Girls Team: Sorcha O’Carolan Murphy, Leanne Kiernan, Fiona Gill, Sinead McKernan, Niamh McNaught, Emily Forkin, Emily Carroll, Grace Cosgrave, Margaret Richardson and Niamh O’Carolan Murphy (11th girl).

Congrats to Aisling Gill who scored 107 not out, for U15 girls on Saturday against Sandyford in the 20 over league. A super knock displaying some very clean hitting. Well done skippy!

With the help of Gillian Hoare (21) and Alison Smith (21) the team reached 173 for 3 in 20 overs, and then kept Sandyford to 95 for 4 (which included a very fine knock of 71 not out from Stephanie Haughton of Sandyford).

The Tropics took on Leinster thirds in the Middle Cup on Saturday. We won the toss and batted first. Killer and Gilly opened up and got us off to a flyer the score was on 60 when Gilly was removed in the ninth over. Sachin looked good in his first outing playing some nice shots before his innings was cut short. Robbie joined Killer and they put on a massive partnership. Robbie was removed for 37. I joined Killer at the crease but didnt stay long we started to lose wickets regularly but all the while Killer kept going and was finally removed in the last over for 107 of the best runs you could hope to see. We made 231 off our 40 overs.

Leinster got off to a good start but the rate kept on going up. The bowlers all bowled well and were well backed up by the fielders. Sadly our skipper had to leave the field with an injury and John Byrne kindly sub fielded. We eventually bolwed Leinster out for 160. Everybody bolwed well but I had the luck and picked up six for 27. But the day belong to Killer and we all shared in his glory with a glass a bubbly. Our semi final is at home in a few weeks.

Ronan

The Girls’ Under 11 team endured a roller coaster week with a heavy defeat against YMCA in the Village on Wednesday in the league followed by a comprehensive win in the cup away to Leinster on Sunday 21st June.

Proving that loosing the toss does not affect the result the girls, on an unprepared pitch (thanks Frank for our prepared pitches), and watched by the biggest travelling support of the year wasted little time under the grey sky setting about the south side bowlers. Margaret Richardson and Lauran Hunter scored 23 runs from 24 bowls. The following pairs of Helen Twadell/Hannah O’Donoghue, Niamh O’Carolan Murphy/Lucy Cook and Fiona Gill/Grace Cosgrave all kept the score ticking over. Some excellent running between the wickets with well hit boundaries pushed the final score to 84 off the 16 overs for the loss of only 1 wicket, Helen being unfortunate to get an inside edge and play on to her stumps.

With the first bowl of Fiona’s first over being edged behind and staying in Lucy’s gloves Leinster’s target became more difficult. The girls must have been watching 20/20 because a new found willingness to dive for the ball saved a number of certain boundaries and kept our bowlers averages up. Fiona’s spell of 4 overs for 18 runs and 2 wickets, Margaret’s 4 for 7 runs and 1 wicket with 1 maiden and Grace’s 4 overs for 7 runs ensured Leinster were some way adrift at the end.

The Girls’ Under 11 team recovered from last weeks defeat to Railway Union by beating Clontarf in the unofficial curtain raiser to the Men’s’ 1st team game in the Village on Sunday 14th June. Loosing the toss and being put into bat Malahide’s pairs took their time in settling into a scoring routine with the final pairing of Fiona Gill and Grace Cosgrave proving most productive, plundering 29 runs between them in their 4 overs. The next highest scoring pair was Helen Twadell and Lucy Cook who scored 11. The batting was not helped by the inaccuracy of the opposition bowling with 30 extras being scored in an innings of 177.

The loss of only 4 wickets in the girls’ innings meant Clontarf had to avoid loosing wickets but the Malahide girls’ disciplined bowling resulted in a chase too far. While scoring runs off the bat Clontarf lost 10 wickets through a mixture of target bowling (6 wickets) and some excellent fielding with 2 run-outs and super catches behind by Lucy Cook at full stretch as WK and at mid wicket by Niamh O’Carolan Murphy. In addition only 8 wides in the 16 overs showed all 6 bowlers were very accurate. Grace’s 4 overs for 6 runs and Margaret Richardson’s 2 wickets for 8 and Fiona’s 2 for 13 are worth a mention. The opposition were restricted to a total score of 162 and being penalised 5 runs for each lost wicket meant Malahide were on this occasion comprehensive winners and ensured the delicious cakes on offer at the annual cake sale in the clubhouse were especially sweet and set a standard for post match snacks that is likely to stay for the season!

The previous morning the Under 13’s travelled to Merrion for a first round cup game and again it was the difference in the bowling that separated the sides. Despite loosing 2 wickets in the first over the girls’ battened down and only lost a further 2 wickets in the remaining 19 overs racking up a total score of 122. However Merrion’s bowlers were the biggest contributors with 35 balls being extras. Notwithstanding this the pairs again all pushed the score along and double figure scores of 10 off 8 balls for Leanne Kiernan and 14 off 12 for Emily Caroll were the pick of the bunch.

Captain Sorcha O’Carolan Murphy used the high score set down to give 9 of her team bowling opportunities and with her as WK catching the Merrion opening batter off Fiona Gill’s first ball it proved to be the start of an unproductive morning for the opposition batters. Sorcha’s own bowling including a double wicket maiden and she ended with statistics’ of 2 overs, 1 maiden, 1 wide and 3 wickets for 4 runs. Excellent returns from Fiona with 4/1/1/3 for 9 and Meabh Reid with 4/0/0/2/11 were also highlights. Emily Forkin’s 2 overs for 6 runs also included a wicket maiden. Sinead McKeaney was pick of the other bowlers giving up only 6 runs in her 2 overs. However supported by excellent fielding all bowlers proved miserly highlighted by a spell from the 10th to the 18th over that resulted in 12 runs for 4 wickets. Merrion’s final tally of 75 for 10 was not enough to stop Malahide progressing to the next round.

Under 11 Team: Fiona G, Grace C, Helen T, Niamh OCM, Margaret R, Lucy C, Hannah O’D, Rachel P, Salome K and Sarah B.

Under 13 Team: Sorcha OCM, Meike K, Leanne K, Fiona G, Sinead McK, Niamh McN, Femi A, Emily F, Ellen D, Emily C and Meabh R.

Malahide U13A's (70 for 6) beat CYM U13A's (68 for 9) by 4 wickets (15/06/09)

Over the last few seasons CYM have always been very strong at both U11 and U13 level and with 2 players from the Leinster U13 representative side in their team we knew that this would be a very tough encounter. Captain James Garrigan made a good start by winning the toss and invited CYM to have a bat. It was essential that our opening bowlers kept it tight right from the off as we knew that CYM had already achieved a number of totals well in excess of 100 runs already this season including successfully chasing 110 in just 18 overs against Merrion a few weeks earlier . Our opening bowlers , Leslee Mutohithill and Mark O'Hara took the new ball and both bowled an excellent line and length, with very few easy balls to score off the CYM opening batsmen began looking for some more expansive shots and in only his 2nd over Mark O'Hara was rewarded by the sight of Mikey Hoey's ( who prior to saturday hadn't been out this season) middle stump being pinned back. After the shock of the early loss of one of their star batsman , CYM settled in to consolidate the innings and to wait for a change of bowling. However, one of the great strengths of this Malahide Team is the depth of it's bowling attack and the first change bowlers James Newman and Glen Cosgrove kept up the pressure making the CYM batsmen work incredibly hard for their runs. Eventually the pressure began to tell and as CYM took greater risks in order to accelerate the run rate Malahide got 2 run outs (both from good pieces of fielding by Leslee Mutohithill ) and an excellent catch at mid-wicket by Cameron Shoebridge reduced CYM to 51 for 4.

Now with the CYM middle order exposed our next bowling pair of James Garrigan and Cameron Shoebridge really "turned the screw" both bowling excellent spells which had the effect of slowing the scoring rate to a virtual crawl. James with figures of 1 for 7 and Cameron with figures of 2 for 7 reduced CYM from 51 for 4 to 58 for 7 in 6 superb overs. Our final bowling pair of Adam Wiiliams and Conor Gill closed out the innings brilliantly only conceeding 4 runs in the last 4 overs leaving Malahide with a target of 69 to win. This was a great effort by the team and the bowlers were well supported by an excellent performance in the field and a special mention should go to Cian O'Daly behind the stumps , who was playing his first match of the season, David Byrne and Eric Ryan who both made some great stops in the outfield.

At the start of the match if anyone had offered us a target of 69 to win we would have "jumped at it" but even so we knew it wouldn't be an easy run chase especially as one of CYM's opening bowlers was the first 6 foot tall 13 year old I have seen in a long time. Our regular opening batsmen of the last few years, Glen Cosgrove and Cian O'Daly were re-united for the first time this season and they got us off to their normal solid start seeing off the new ball whilst keeping the scoreboard ticking over. CYM decided to bowl their openers out in an effort to make early in-roads into the Malahide batting line up, Glen and Cian batted beautifully until the 8th over when Cian received a brute of a ball that lifted to head height off a length (like when does that ever happen on an Irish pitch). James Garrigan came in to join Glen and through sensible batting continued to keep up with the required run rate. By the time Glen was run out for 12, Malahide had reached 35 for 2 from 10 overs, so exactly half way to the target at half way. James Newman came in at number 4 and pushed the scoring along with some good shots over the in-field. However, the quality of the CYM bowling and fielding remained high throughout and a couple of quick run outs kept the pressure on as we edged nearer to the winning total . Our 6th wicket fell at 61 , 8 runs to win with 2.5 overs left but our strength in depth again came into play as the 7th wicket partnership of Mark O'Hara and Leslee Mutohithill kept their nerve to bring us over the line with 3 balls to spare. Mark in particular is just the player you want in the middle in a tight finish as he as the abilty to make a single out of nothing.

Over the past few seasons we have always found Pembroke a tough nut to crack at U11 level and with virtually a completely new team this year up against a Pembroke side with no fewer than 5 Leinster U11 squad players we knew that Malahide would have to play to their full potential in order to get a result.

Having won the toss Pembroke decided to have a bat . They started steadily but were kept in check by some accurate bowling by Ciaran Conroy and Ethan Bannon who only conceeded 10 runs in the first 4 overs. They were replaced by 2 debutants at U11A level, Lukas Keegan and Matthew Newman who soon overcame any nerves by settling in to a really good stump to stump line.Lukas and Matthew took 3 wickets between them and made sure that the Pembroke innings couldn't gain any momentum. Captain Cameron Shoebridge then bowled an excellent spell th further peg back the scoring rate with some accurate fast bowling which gave him figures of 3 for 7. He was well supported by Sean Drumm and Luke Birrell who both gave the Pembroke batsmen very few balls to score from. With 19 overs gone it was looking like Malahide would be chasing a very low total but as often happens in cricket some great hitting by Pembroke captain Fiachra Tucker , who scored 16 off the last over, suddenly left us with a challenging total to chase down.

The team all knew how important it was to get the innings off to a good start, keeping up with the required run rate whilst keeping wickets intact. Openers Scott Talbot and Ethan Bannon did a great job off keeping Pembroke's bowlers at bay whilst keeping the scoreboard ticking over. They were followed by Jamie Conway and Sean Drumm who both played some fantastic shots with Jamie in particular sending the ball to all parts of the ground eventually finishing as top scorer on 13. Next came Luke Birrell and Riley Shoebridge who scored steadily and made sure that Malahide kept up with the run rate. The next pair of Cameron Shoebridge and Matthew Newman concentrated on looking for gaps in the field and trying to score off every ball. With some good shot placement and some excellent running they added 25 runs putting Malahide ahead of the required rate for the first time in the match. The last pair of Lukas Keegan and Ciaran Conroy sensibly decided to look to score in singles rather than take any unnecessary risks. As the last over began a comfortable victory looked assured but with 2 wickets falling in 3 balls suddenly the game was wide open again and great credit should go to Lukas for holding his nerve to close out the innings to complete a well deserved victory.

This was a great performance by a very young and inexperienced team, every player made a valuable contribution and to beat a team as good as Pembroke should give them great confidence for the rest of the season.

Team : Cameron Shoebridge (Capt), Luke Birrell, Jamie Conway, Scott Talbot, Ethan Bannon, Riley Shoebridge, Ciaran Conroy, Matthew Newman, Sean Drumm ,Lukas Keegan.

Matches on Bank Holiday weekends always cause availabilty issues so it was a much changed team that took the field against Railway Union on what was another perfect morning for cricket. Railway won the toss and invited Malahide to have a bat, our new opening pair of Jamie Conway and Sean Drumm picked up where they left off the previous week hitting some fine shots and running well between the wickets to give the Malahide innings a great start. The next two pairs of Ravi Gallapalli and Phillip McDowell and Ryan Condron and Riley Shoebridge made sure that the good start wasn't wasted, keeping the scoreboard ticking over whilst keeping their wickets intact. The next pair of Matthew Newman and Cameron Shoebridge gave the innings real momentum with Cameron top scoring with 20 including 3 well struck boundaries. For our final pair of Ciaran Conroy and Max Cuddy, Railway brought back their opening bowlers in an effort to keep our total to managable proportions. Despite some very accurate bowling, Max and Ciaran took the Malahide total to 82 for 5 which we all felt was very defendable.

It was important that our bowling was as accurate as possible so great credit must be given to two of the team's youngest players Ravi Gallapalli and Matthew Newman who were given the responsibilty of taking the new ball. Both were exceptional with Ravi bowling 3 excellent overs finishing with figures of 2 for 10 and Matthew also bowling 3 overs with figures of 3 for 11. The other bowlers used were Ciaran Conroy, Jamie Conway, Cameron Shoebridge and Sean Drumm who all made sure that Railway were always behind the required run rate. What was particularly pleasing was that all the bowlers were well supported by an impressive fielding display which included a number of good catches and some excellent boundary saving stops. A particular mention in this area of the game should go to Jamie Conway who sealed the victory with a "direct hit" run out and Sean Drumm who were both brilliant in the field.

A season’s first game for a combined Malahide/The Hills Girls’ team at Under 15 level was played at the Village in glorious sunshine on Sunday morning. The last day of winter someone ruefully suggested! The local girls were aided and abetted by 3 visitors from The Hills enabling both clubs to ensure their Under 15’s participate in regular competitive cricket in their own age group.

Lead by Aisling Gill the competitive nature of the game was evident in the “Malahills” team from the start. Aisling attacked the Merrion bowlers from the outset displaying a varied shot selection throughout an innings peppered with 7 boundaries. Merrion may well rue the dropped catch opportunities that allowed Aisling to bat through the 20 overs and achieve a score of 61 not out. She was supported by Alison Smith who entered after Gillian Hoare from the Hills was bowled out when the score was on 21 and this pair added 65 before Alison was bowled for 21 to a rare ball that stayed on line. Another quick fire 16 were added before Ciara O’Carolan Murphy got a nick off an inside edge that just about knocked the bale off. Aisling and Kate Murphy kept the scoreboard ticking over in the remaining few overs with Malahide putting on a formidable score of 115 for 3 off their allocated 20 overs.

Merrion’s first pair took to the field knowing that they were to face Leinster’s Under 15 opening bowler Gillian and MCC’s own Alison. True to form Gillian dismissed the opening batter with the 3rd delivery and between herself and Alison they gave nothing away with the score on 11 runs for 1 wicket after 5 overs. Gillian finished with an excellent 2 wickets for 7 runs off her allocated 5 overs. The remaining bowlers continued to bowl to line and length and provided measly picking for Merrions’ beleaguered batters with only one visiting batter getting into double figures. In addition smart fielding around the pitch reduced the run opportunities and excellent throwing, including a direct hit by Ciara, and quick gloves by Aisling sent 3 more bewildered batters wandering back to the sun drenched bench. The other wickets fell as a result of two well taken catches in the field and 3 times the batters saw their bales removed from quick straight bowling. As a result of a polished display from the whole team Merrion’s total score stood at 58 for 8.

The economy of the bowlers was evident in the returns with Alison’s 5 overs going for 21 runs, Meabh Reid’s 4 overs for 15 runs and when the captain introduced towards the end the bowling pair of Rebecca Branagan (4 overs/1 wicket/7 runs) and Sorcha O’Carolan Murphy (2/2/6) their tidy bowling and steady wickets ensured that the win was always beyond Merrion. So full points to the Malahills girls.

Thanks to Barbara McD for organising the team and umpiring, Chris Smith for scoring, the men’s 2nd team for being so patient and the rest of the crowd for getting sunburnt.

The first game of this season was in sunny Rush on the 10th May and a full strength squad of cricketing veterans under the captaincy of Sorcha OCM descended on the sleepy seaside town last Sunday morning to find that their planned arrival has prompted half the Rush team to stay in bed.

Rather than waste the trip it was decided to temporarily transfer enough fielders to make a game of it and with that bold decision made Malahide elected to bat. The batting rustiness resulting from no game since last August was apparent as the opening pair of Meabh and Mieke while not loosing wickets struggled to get runs from a very efficient Rush bowling quartet. The remaining batters also struggled with the exception of Emily who pushed the runs along with a total of 13. The “visiting” fielders contributed to Home team score by claiming 2 run outs and a catch in the haul of 9 wickets.

Malahide’s bowling was straight and on line and while the odd wayward bowl was picked off the girls returned impressive figures with Fiona’s 23-2 off 5, Meabh’s 13-2-3 and Sorcha’s 1-3 off 3 being the pick of the bunch with a total of 9 wickets falling including a super catch on the boundary by Fiona saving a certain six. So a good workout with full points in the bag. The game also proved (thought not advertised as such !) to be the curtain raiser for the Irish Ladies game against their Development squad and the high quality of fielding and bowling displayed demonstrated to the Squads that Malahide have talent for the future. Hopefully the talent and sun continue to shine over the summer !

Team: Sorcha, Meike K, Leanne K, Fiona G, Sinead McK, Niamh McN, Femi A, Emily F, Ellen D and Meabh R.

First of all an apology. I wrote in my report last week that North Kildare had a pro playing for their first team. After speaking to the guys from North Kildare yesterday I have been told that this is not the case. I will check my sources out in the future.

Anyway to yesterdays game. The fourths where once again led by interim skipper and match reporter Ro. I won the toss and given the wicket and weather decided to have a bat. Andy Richardson and Herbie got us underway. Both looked in good touch early on however runs at first seemed hard to come by. Andy was bowled for 9 in the fifth over. This brought run machine Manks to the crease. Hamish has looked in good touch since the start of the season. He and Herbie pushed the score on to 66 after 20 overs. Herbie was the main contributer scoring 38 before going across the line to one that kept a touch low. This brought Wille to the crease who early on made the same mistake as Herbie and went for nought. Enter Ro who to be fair up to this point had looked a shadow of his former self with the bat and indeed could have been out 3 times before he made it to ten. Hamish went LBW soon soon after drinks which brought Ian Guerin to the wicket. I had never batted with Gearbox before and its fair to say I hope to bat with him more often if the results are the same. The score at this point was 73 for 4 after 24 overs. When we were seperated in the 45th and final over the score was 215. We had put on 142 in 20.4 overs Gearbox had made a very good 50 before he was out LBW. He played the perfect innings running well and never looking in trouble. Meanwhile at the other end after a very shakey start I had decided the only way out of bad form was to hit my way out. I made 80 not out. This was a key partnership as it put is right in the driving sheet as I am sure North Kildare thought they had us in big trouble.

After a good tea we set about driving home our advantage. Howard would open up at the castle end and new member Atif Kamal at the road end. Both bowled very well and could and should have taken more wickets. Atif bowled 5 very good overs and went for 16 runs but just couldnt get a wicket. Meanwhile H bowled his ten overs straight and took 4 for 35 and it could have been more with two dropped catches mind you he dropped one of those himself. Peter Chase replaced Atif and again bowled well but with no luck. He bowled his 5 overs for 11 but again just couldnt get a wicket. I replaced H at the castle end and Hamish came on for Peter. I was struggling after my batting exploits as unpire on the day Broph will testify to. Nver then less myself and Hamish set about removing the rest of the batsmen who from early on had decided it seemed to dig in and wait for a miricale. Hamish got the ball rolling removing their number 7 with the worst ball of the day a long hop hit straight to VB. It was my turn to get in on the act removing their left handed opener who had scored 60 against the Tropics last week. A good player we where happy to see the back of. After this it was in the bag for the village. Hamish picked up two more wickets to end up with 3 for 38 off 9 and when I fianlly broke down after 9 overs I had 1 for 26. Wille wrapped things up with 1 for 1.

A good win which saw the return of the Butcher from the Barrick as the Shabos call me and the developing of young Guerin moving forward leeps and bounds. Just for the record we won by 80 runs.

Four games played 2 good wins one close defeat and one hammering what next for the fourths and indeed who next as leader.

Ronan McGeehan

U13A's get league campaign underway with an 8 wicket victory over Clontarf - 10th May (11/05/09)

Maybe the summer has really arrived as the U13A's played their first match of the season in glorious May sunshine against Clontarf at the Village. Captain James Garrigan, won the toss and invited Clontarf to have a bat, the U13A's have a particularly strong bowling line up this year and we were confident of keeping Clontarf to a modest total.

Opening bowlers Leslee Mutohothill and Mark O'Hara, both bowled with good pace and accuracy and proved to be particularly hard to score from. Mark was rewarded with 2 wickets including an excellent catch behind the stumps by wicketkeeper David Byrne. Their good work was backed up by first change bowlers Glen Cosgrove and James Newman who kept a very tight line. A highlight of this spell was a spectacular diving catch by James off his own bowling. The Clontarf run rate slowed even further as they continued to lose wickets at regular intervals. Cameron Shoebridge, James Garrigan, Fionn Andrews and Conor Gill took a wicket each and were well supported by some excellent catching and superb ground fielding. At the end of their 20 overs Clontarf had reached a modest 56 for 7.

Malahide's reply was given a good start by openers Glen Cosgrove and James Garrigan who kept the scoreboard ticking over with a series of quick singles. James was caught trying to hit over the top and he was quickly followed by Fionn Andrews who fell to an excellent caught and bowled. David Byrne then joined Glen and between them they set about chasing down the Clontarf total. A mixture of good running and powerful hitting gradually reduced the target until victory was achieved with successive boundaries smashed through mid wicket by David Byrne with 3 overs to spare.

The Village lost the toss and were asked to field first by a young Leinster side. We saw 6 bowlers step up to have a go including Lucy playing her first match for Malahide and Maibh though a regular at underage training and Easter camp, was playing in her first senior match and full length wicket.

There were a few wides given away, but wickets were taken by Maibh, Lucy and Fiona. Alison kept it tight with just 5 runs hit off her 5. Fielding was good and Sorcha also playing in her first senior Match for Malahide was superb behind the stumps, getting into the match well and enthusiastically shouting after her team-mates. Leinster lost 5 wickets for the 20 and set us a target of 64 to win.

We had a new opening partnership of Sarah and Alison who were soon off the mark. Leinster then took a few quick wickets with some very accurate bowling and we were 3 down for the 30. Up stepped the president herself; Ev to steady the ship. Alison still at the crease, was very unlucky to be run out from a super direct hit from a long throw in, but finished well and proved her ability and patience up the order. So Lucy went in and together Lucy and Ev finished on 16 and 15 respectively not out.

Target of 64 reached off 12 overs for 5. Congratulations to Alison, Maibh, and Sorcha who all received votes for Man of the Match. The overall winner and well deserved was Maibh.

Many Thanks to Kevin Murphy for Umpiring and to Ev and Sarah for captaining in my absence.

'Come on the Village!!

The U13Bs kicked off their campaign for the J D Caprani Cup (sponsored by Malahide CC) on Saturday of the May bank holiday weekend with a win against Clontarf.

The sunshine had finally arrived and Clontarf’s ground was in great condition ahead of the upcoming international.

Malahide won the toss and opted to field. Clontarf put up a modest total of 50 runs off 15 overs, with Eric Ryan cleaning up in style – he took three for 0 off two overs. Cameron Shoebridge, Conor Gill and Adam Williams each took two wickets while Eoin O’Brien took one.

Malahide opened with some steady batting from Ethan Bannon and Brandon Dooley. Top scorer was captain on the day, Glen Cosgrove, with 15 not out. Clontarf proved to be a strong bowling team and it six wickets fell in making the required total.

One striking feature of the match was that 6 wickets fell to catches, four of those taken by Malahide. No catches were dropped!

Well done to the boys and many thanks for the strong support from parents on the day.

Team: E. Bannon, B.Dooley, D. Byrne, C.Shoebridge, C. Kiely, E.O’Brien, G. Cosgrove, S. Gallapolli, C. Gill, A. Williams, E. Ryan.

Well the Tropics finally took flight yesterday in less than tropical weather. The opposistion were a well run North Kildare first team including a pro. This will be a common theme this year PRO'S in Senior 3 right or wrong you decide. Either way they have to be played against. Our skipper Gibbons aka DURACELL lost the toss and the tropics were in the field. All was going very well Shash aka KEBAB and DURACELL opened the bowling and had reduced the boys from Kilcock to 7 for 3 after 6. Their Pro was now at the wicket and looked a good player. DURACELL removed himself from the attack and turned to me aka TICKLER fresh on the back of a Michelle the day before to keep up the good work. Sadly it proved a game to far for me and after three overs I was removed for the attack with feeling tired and emotional. KEBAB meanwhile was still going and bowling well. I was replace by Hamish aka SHEARING. Who bowled better than his figures would suggest. Our fielding was the worst display I have ever seen at one stage they were playing hit and run and we let them. 6 drop catches and no word of a lie we gave them at least 70 runs. Anyway Boyner aka HARVEY took over from KEBAB and twirled a good spell despite the fielding. Sheady aka HOGGY took over from SHEARING and also bolwed ok. But the boys from Kilcock had done a lot of damage to bowling figures and egos and coupled with our fielding had got them selves to 200 for 7 in the 40th. We improved in the last ten with Quinner aka FOXY on for HARVEY and DURACELL back in the attack. North Kildare finished on 262 for 9. Pick of our bowlers were HARVEY 2 FOR 39 DURACELL 1 FOR 31 and FOXY 2 FOR 45. Every fielder on that pitch should hang their heads in shame.

Simple some 263 to win in 50 overs. Gilly aka NOODLES and GEARBOX got us underway. GEARBOX played some nice shots but then got a good ball which I think hit all three of his stumps. Shabo aka SPANDEX at 3 looked jis usually comfortable self before hitting a rank long hop straight at point and was gone for four. KEBAB looked a little more text book than usual but couldnt get going and went for 9. Meanwhile NOODLES was looking good for a big score until he picked out squareleg to perfection. Poor Killian aka HOFF went first ball and when HOGGY went soon after things looked well and truly lost. But SHEARING and HARVEY had other ideas and put together a great partnership which brought us to needing 88 of the last ten. A tall order but considering we were dead and buried before these two got together it was a great effort from the lads. Sdly in the hunt for runs HARVEY was run out for a very well made 44. This brough TICKLER to the wicket I was on my way soon enough for 4 caught again. FOXY went soon after for 5. This left the SHEARING with the task of scoring the lion share of the runs with DURACELL at the other end. This proved too much and he was removed for a very well made 40.

Defeat by 68 runs considering how badly we fielded we were all left wondering what might have been.

The Tropics will have to raise their game quickly if they are to survive in Senior 3 this year.

Sunday morning saw the 2nd XI play their second game of the season away to old rivals Clontarf. After an excellent warm-up of breakfast rolls we were inserted by Clontarf. Stand in skipper Pyne & Ryan strolled out to open the innings. Ryan managed to face more balls than his last attempt as a chinese cut for 1 got his season off to a very sketchy start. Pyne was looking good easily punishing the opening bowlers for 3 early '2's before being given out LBW to a ball which would not have hit another set down the leg side. Ryan was to follow in the same manner the only difference being his definetly would have hit the correct set. Bud & Glenda set about repairing the innings, the former being very watchful while the latter playing as if he wanted to see his beloved Everton on tele. Alas this exuberence was to lead to his off-stump being removed as he eyed up the vacant mid-wicket area. Billy-Ray & Shash came and went quickly, the returning John Byrne showed he still has what it takes as he kept Bud company. We were eventually dismissed for a poor 104, only Bud applying himself on a very slow wicket for a well made 35.
Early wickets were needed but a couple of dropped catches didn't help and some of the demons in the track disappeared. Pete, Shash, Glenda, Keith and Boyner all bowled well without much luck but defending such a low score was beyond us as Clontarf passed the total for the loss of 3 wkts in 30 overs.

Sunday saw the Fourths fall to a second defeat on the trot. This was a much heavier one than in Trinity and brought up a few issues for the team. I took charge this week with still no full time skipper in place. I lost the toss and Loais decided to have a bat. Herbie and P Chaser would open up the bowling. Chase bowled with good control and movement and had taken two wickets for very little at the end of his first spell. Only taken off due to silly laws that say he can only bowl six straight. Things had not gone so well at the castle end Herbie had been replaced by yours truly after 3 overs he and I would rather forget but he did pick up a wicket. So it was me from the castle and big Al Reynolds from the road end. Things were going ok at my end but Al was struggling so he was replaced by hero of the last game Jackson. Laois were scoring at a very good rate just after drinks they were 130 for 6. Thankfully I managed to pick up a couple more wickets before the end of my 10 and ended up with 5 for 45. Jackson had done an ok job at the road end and was replaced by Willy. Herbie cam back for on over after me and was replaced by Chaser. He took just two overs to wrap up the tail. Laois had scored 191 in 31 overs. Chaser and yours truly were the pick of the bowlers picking 9 for 70 between us. The rest of the lads struggled and our fielding was terrible. ANyway we had 59 overs to score 191 runs no problem we thought. Batting was worse than our fielding. Only Herbie did anyhting of use scoring a good 31. My batting was a thing of beauty to anybody who saw it. We manged 73 runs between us or 42 if you take out Herbie. The Fourths have the making of a solid team but they need to work on the basics of cricket in every aspect of the game. But we will turn up again nect week and try try again.

You wait six months for your first game of the season and in a moment your hopes of playing are dashed.

The Tropical Birds(thirds) were due to kick off last Saturday at home against Merrion 3's. Sadly due to a small bit of water getting under the covers the umpire decided the wicket was not unplayable but dangerous. He had obviously never been in Malahide before. Anyway the day was not a total loss as we managed a quick net and a team bonding session. I have to say the Tropics look stronger this year than we have in a long time. Get your money on us for a middle cup run.

We are in action next Monday in the dangerous village get down and see out the long weekend cheering us to victory.

Ronan McGeehan

First two games in anger this weekend for the fourths ended in one win and one very close defeat.

On Saturday we took on Dundrum. This side had been promoted 5 times in the last 6 seasons however they ran into a well oiled village fourth IX. VB one the toss and bowled after good opening spell from P Chase and Herbie. Chase unlucky not to get a wicket and Herbie picking up one. H Manks and Max Cassidy took up the mantel and produced good spells picking up two wickets a piece. Strangley but perhaps brilliantly these two were removed from the attack by the skipper and the great H and the every pie chucking author were brought in to wrap things up. H producing figures of 2 for nought and the author picking up 3 for two. Dundrum all out 38. The village chased it for four less said the better good old Willie sorted it out with a few lusty blows.

Sunday and it was off to Trin. My first experience there I really should have opened the books more or at all. VB once again led us loss the the toss and we were inserted. We made a solid start but then lost a few cheap wickets. I joined Jackson Santosh at the crease and we set about rebuilding. We brought the score from 30 to 80 quickly and with out trouble until I made the fatal error of playing over a typical April rat. Jackson carried on regardless and made a very good 60 before being removed. Ian Talbot made a handy 15 or so to bring the total to 141 all out in 42 overs. The less said about tea the better. Once again we made a good start with the ball. Max and H got us going both bowled well without luck. Max sadly broke down after his fourth over and VB decided to make a double change the author and young Al Reynolds on and wickets started to fall three in 5 balls. Al just missing out on a hatrick. These two kept it tight and picked up wickets. Al then also broke down but had produced a decent spell of 2 for 20 off 5. The author kept going ten straight thankfully with the wind and pruduced 3 for 20. At this stage it was in the balance but the Trin dug in and got them selves 15 from victory with five wickets in hand. All looked lost but H in his last over finally got some luck and removed their danger man. We were running out of options on the bowling front with H bowled out along with me Al had come back but struggled after already playing a game of football in the morning VB had a go but couldnt get the break through and Max had back trouble. Willie Richardson and Jackson would be the men given the up hill task. The batsmen were looking like rabbits in the headlights. Jackson produce two amazing overs and figures of 3 for 6. The game was ours for the taking 6 to win one wicket in hand and nervous batsmen. Willie flighted one the batsman tried to put into the pav straight up Jackson hero of the day under it. Its in the bag oh no. This killed us off. It was a tough chance for the young man but he had made the game for us with his batting and bowling. I expect to see him in Senior 3 soon. Good fight was shown by the team and if we continue like that the fourths will have no worries this year. One very good win and a near miss.

Roll on next week.

Ronan McGeehan