First X1

Our First X1 headed to a windy and freezing Inch on Saturday to take on our neighbours North County.
The Hills won the toss and decided to bowl. Two early wickets for Dylan Blignaut had the travelling supporters expectant. That changed with the introduction of Malcolm Nofal and Andrew Sheridan who put on an excellent 60 run partnership before Nofal (39) fell to the bowling of debutant Matthew Weldon. Sheridan was joined at the crease by Club Captain Eddie Richardson who combined to put on a crucial 88 run partnership before Sheridan (50) departed with the score on 153.  Richardson went on to make an undefeated 116 including 6 fours and 5 sixes. Contributions from John Mooney (18) and Jonathan Andrews (10) brought the final total to 272 for 6 in the allotted 50 overs. Best bowling for The Hills was Tomás Rooney Murphy with 2 for 38, Matthew Weldon with 1 for 49, Ashley Bain 1 for 49 and Sameer Dutt 0 for 27 off  8.

In reply The Hills came just 4 runs short on 268. Main contributors with the bat were Mark Donegan (87), Dylan Blignaut (48), Murray Commins (31) and Andrew Kavanagh (26). Abdul Ghaffar took 4 wickets for 61, Malcolm Nofal took 2 wickets for 28 and Uzman Azhar too 2 wickets for 44.

At The Vineyard on Saturday the Fourth X1 faced Balbriggan and having won the toss decided to have a bowl. Balbriggan went on to set a target of 152. Rebecca Gough took 2 for 27 and  Ashad Farooqi took 3 for 28. In reply The Hills accounted for the target with the loss of 4 wickets in the 37th over. Biggest  contributors were Conor O’Brien* (40), Joseph Russell (49), Cole Daddy (22) and Jason Magee * (18).

Yesterday the Second X1 travelled to Newtownforbes in County Longford. Losing the toss we were asked to bat. Bhavesh Lakhotia (59), Andrew Kavanagh (67), Will Archer (41), Mark Dwyer(38) and Sam Smyth (16) contributed to a fine total of 261. In reply Longford could only manage to get to 246, 15 runs short.  2 wickets each for Gavin Morgan, Jonathan Tall, Will Archer and Athar Farooqi broke the back of the Longford reply.

Yesterday in the Vineyard the Third X1 took on the men from Kilkenny. Batting first Kilkenny set a formidable target of 292 in 44.2 overs. Shoaib Tariq with 151 did most of the damage with 13 fours and 9 sixes. 4 wickets for 50 from Asad Khan was the pick of The Hills bowling. With such a big target we needed some of our batsmen to score big! Lorcan Woodhouse (56), Shehzad Hussain (34), Ashad Farooqi* (80) and Muhammad Hassan* (43) contributed hugely to our eventual success in the 43rd over with 5 wickets to spare.

In Margaretstown our Fifth X1 were defeated by 2 wickets to Finglas.

The numbers drawn in last nights Lotto were;

 7, 23, 30 & 31

There was no winner of The Jackpot.

Lucky Dip winners were Michael Gavin & Paul McGrane, €25.00 each.

Next weeks Jackpot stands at €3,700.00.

Monday saw our Ladies First X1 get their season started with a Pilkington Plate game against Clontarf. Cold and showery conditions suggested early on that this would be shortened game. With several interruptions for rain and an early tea it was eventually played as a 27 over game.

Batting first The Hills reached 134 for 5 off the allotted overs. Top scorers for The Hills were Jane Maguire (27) Clíondha O’Reardon (37) and Aisling Byrne (25). Other contributors included debutante Rebecca Gough (7),  returnee Rhiannon Pope (9) and Extras were also helpful (24). Julie McNally was the pick of the Clontarf bowlers with 2 for 28 with a wicket each for Freya Sargent and Emma Butler.

The first Clontarf wicket didn’t fall until the score was on 64 despite some fine bowling from our openers Jane Maguire and Rebecca Gough. Aoife Brennan proved to be the star of the Clontarf innings scoring 71 off 84 balls before being dismissed with the score on 128. The Hills didn’t help their cause by contributing 29 via extras. In the end Clontarf were winners by 7 wickets with 3 overs to spare.

To get a full year view of the fixtures visit link below:

https://www.cricketleinster.ie/match-centre/fixtures?category=&competition=&club=GQJ7Q1HY3Z&team=&venue=&year=&month=

Skipper Andy McGirl and the Fourth X1 got the 2022 season off to a winning start with a win over Kilkenny at The Vineyard on Saturday.

Batting first, The Hills put on an impressive 227 for 2 off the allotted 40 overs. Top scoring for the Milverton men was the 17 year old James Courell with 94, his maiden half century for the club and tantalisingly close to the ton. James was ably assisted by Conor O’Brien with an unbeaten 54 and Andrew Russell with 45. A fine batting display for the season opener bodes well for the remainder of the season.

Setting about the run chase in a business like manner all of the Kilkenny batters contributed but came up short with 208 for 9 in reply. Best bowling for The Hills was an impressive 4 for 36 off 8 for Ashad Farrooqi including 2 caught and bowled. Other contributors with the ball were Kieron Phillips with 2, Jason Magee, Conor O’Brien and Muddesser Bhandara with a wicket each.

Great to see young talent coming through into the senior cricket ranks so early in the season. Full details on the following link:

https://www.cricketleinster.ie/match-centre/match/DX92G96BLJ

Murray Commins has been rewarded for his recent performances with the Ireland Wolves and previously in the interprovincial series with a 12 month retainer contract with Cricket Ireland. This is the first time that Murray has been recognised in this way by Cricket Ireland and we wish him well in the coming season.

The numbers drawn in last nights draw were;

3, 8, 16 & 19

There was no winner of The Jackpot.

Lucky Dip winners were Anne Maguire & Mary Clinton, €25.00 each.

The Jackpot next week will be €3,650.00.

Thanks again to The Shoehorn Skerries for the continued support.

Our 2022 season starts this coming weekend, the following are the fixtures;

Saturday 16th April

Fourth X1 vs Kilkenny, start time 1 pm. League Division 17.

Sunday 17th April

First X1 Vs Balbriggan, start time 12 noon. Friendly 40 overs.

Monday 18th April

Ladies First X1 Vs Clontarf. 1 pm start time, Pilkington Plate first round.

Our Easter Camp will run at The Vineyard from Tuesday April the 19th though to Thursday April 21st.

Softball camp will run each morning from 10 to 12 each day for 6-9 year olds

Hardball camp will run each day from 2 to 4 for 10 to 12 year olds

You can register and pay to participate on our Clubforce website at the following link:

https://member.clubforce.com/memberships_cart_m.asp?LL_ID=2980&intMF_ID=10086#Anchor