The numbers drawn in the Lotto last night were:

14, 17, 30 & 31

There was no winner of the Jackpot.

The two Lucky Dip winners were George Kitteringham and Martin Russell, €25.00 each

The Jackpot for next week is €1,650.00.

Third Man

(131 for 5) to (130 for 9)

A Win for North County by 5 wickets

On Saturday last, North County and The Hills met in a top of the table clash in Section D of the Sports Hub League Cup. Each team had three wins and one loss up to this point, and it was unarguable that the result of this game would have a decisive impact on the quest for qualification in the semi-final stage of the competition.  

            In what cricket commentators refer to as “seam-friendly bowling conditions”, Eddie Richardson, North County’s Captain, won the toss and not unexpectedly decided that his team would field first. Recently, Cormac McLoughlin-Gavin, the fine Hills batsman has struggled for runs, and he was out to a catch by Niall McGovern off the bowling of Richardson when there were only three runs on the scoreboard. Mark Donegan and Murray Commins (14) brought the score up to 23 when Commins was out to a superb catch by John Mooney again off the bowling of Eddie Richardson.  The next partnership, Donegan and Blignaut (12) ended on 44 runs when Blignaut was out to a catch by Luke Whelan, the North County wicketkeeper, off the bowling of Ghaffar. Mark Donegan (34) continued his impressive form of recent weeks, and there were cameos by Andrew Kavanagh (23) and Will Archer (18), but a score of 130 runs appeared well-short of being a competitive total. The bowling honours for North County were taken by Richardson with 5 wickets for 20 runs in 4 overs while Andrew Sheridan took 2 wickets, and there was a wicket each for Abdul Ghaffar, John Mooney, and Cian Mulvaney.

            Local derbies are notoriously difficult to predict, and the Hills’ opening bowlers, Dylan Blignaut and Tomás Rooney-Murphy set about showing that the visitors were not going to lie down without a fight. Blignaut took 2 wickets in a splendidly hostile spell, and he was well-supported by Rooney-Murphy. By the eighth over, North County had lost 4 wickets with only 34 runs on the scoreboard, and the visiting supporters dared to hope. Amidst the carnage, Niall McGovern batted in an imperturbable fashion and his innings provided the foundation for the onslaught which John Mooney launched on the Hills’ bowlers. Mc Govern (37) and Mooney (53*) brought the North County score up to 120 runs when McGovern was clean bowled by the returning Blignaut, but it was too little, too late for The Hills. The remaining runs when knocked off with consummate ease by Mooney and Sludds, and North County reached the target in the 18^th over.  On the evidence of this performance, John Mooney would be a decided asset on the Irish T20 and/or 50 overs teams. He bowled an economical spell; he took an excellent catch to dismiss Murray Commins and he gave a brilliant display of controlled batting. With Mooney in imperious form and Eddie Richardson bowling as well as ever, North County will start as clear favourites when Dublin University CC visits the Inch on Saturday next in the final game of the league section of this competition.

            For The Hills CC, this was a disappointing performance. There is no lack of effort; the bowling is competent, but the batting unit has not reached anything like the standard of which it is capable. The visit of Phoenix to the Vineyard for next Saturday’s game will provide an opportunity for the players to validate the cliché, “form is temporary, but class is permanent.” Until then, it is onwards and upwards.

The numbers drawn in the Lotto this week were

1, 7, 9 & 12

There was no winner of the Jackpot.

Lucky Dip winners were Matt Dwyer and George Kitteringham, €25.00 each.

Jackpot for next week is €1,600.00

If you would like to take part in the weekly Lotto you can do so at the link below:

https://play.clubforce.com/play_newa.asp?ll_id=2702&fbclid=IwAR3nKTdwsoIExvD2kkBxnedRLZKgynDHc7UwCMLlf2suQBV6ruzSv-5DHJE#Anchor

Eddie Dwyer of ED SPORTS will present a pop-up shop at The Vineyard on Wednesday next the 30th from 5.00 pm. ED SPORTS is The Hills’ official supplier of playing kit and is also one of Ireland’s leading retailers of cricket equipment.

Third Man

In this the fourth series of games in the League Cup, the Hills had an immediate opportunity to avenge last Saturday’s defeat at the hands of Trinity.  The Hills won the toss and opted to field first, and this decision was more than justified by a combination of incisive bowling and good fielding. The first Trinity wicket fell to the Blignaut/ Kavanagh combination when the score was only 7. Another wicket fell on the next ball, bowled by Tomás Rooney-Murphy, and caught by Will Archer. At the end of the power play, Trinity’s score was 14 runs for the loss of 2 wickets. A period of consolidation for Trinity followed, and Nicolaas Pretorius (45*) continued his one-man crusade against his former club, during which he played some wonderful shots. Unfortunately for Trinity, wickets fell with great regularity at the other end, and its final score was 96 for the loss of 5 wickets.

            The Hills’ bowlers were superb today, with the Captain, Tomás Rooney -Murphy leading the way with 4 hostile overs, during which he took 1 wicket and conceded only 11 runs. Dylan Blignaut bowled 4 overs for 15 runs and took 1 wicket. Sameer Dutt’s figures were 3 overs for 14 and 1 wicket, while Killian Everard continues to improve, and took 1 wicket for 18 runs in his 4 over spell. This bowling performance was complemented by good ground fielding and some fine catches. The Trinity cognoscenti were not too downhearted with their team’s score, and informed the visiting spectators, all five of them, that scores in the 90s were winning totals in College Park.

            In reply, the first Hills’ wicket (Cormack McLoughlin-Gavin) fell when the score 21, and the next wicket (Andrew Kavanagh) did not fall until the score was 39. Mark Donegan and Dylan Blignaut (9) brought the score up to 63, and it appeared that the target was going to be achieved with consummate ease, but it never wise to count chickens before they are hatched. Wickets continued to fall, but if Mark Donegan was at the crease, there was no necessity for panic despite the run-rate increasing. When the wily veteran, Conor Hoey, took his 300^th wicket for Trinity, and Mark Donegan (43) was out to a catch by D. Hogan off the bowling of Streek in the 19^th over, Trinity had high hopes of completing the double over The Hills. In the last over, 7 runs were required for victory and Will Archer played an amazing shot which eluded the wicketkeeper and went for 4 runs Archer was out on the second last ball of the game, and Luke Clinton faced the last ball with one run needed for victory. Luke charged the ball, and it went past the bat and the keeper, so the winning run was a bye.

            This was an exciting game, played in a good spirit by two evenly matched teams. Last week, Trinity College took 7 catches; this week, they dropped two straightforward catches, and in the words of the cliché, “catches win matches.” For The Hills, it was a relief to get over the line today. The team’s bowling and fielding continue to impress, but the batting is still brittle. With 3 wins in the League Cup, the team can face its final two matches in the League Cup with confidence, so until next week when The Hills visit near neighbours, North County, it is onwards and upwards.