The second weekend in May saw what for many followers of Irish club cricket is the higlight of the season - the first round of the Bob Kerr Irish Senior Cup and the National Cup. Although rain caused big problems for groundsmen in the lead up to the matches, eleven Leinster teams took to the field, with incredibly nine of them winning their first round matches.
With the help of our All Ireland rankings, we will review those twelve matches; see how it has changed their rankings; and wil reflect on what was another proud day for Leinster cricket.
YMCA went into the match as the number one ranked team on the island, and were string favourites against Belfast side, Woodvale, ranked 32 places below them. The match proved those rankings correct, as YM strolled to victory. Nearly all the YM batsmen scored well, with Albert van der Merwe top scoring with 74*, as he and Ruadhan Jones put on 98 unbroke runs for the 5th wicket, as the Dublin soide finished on 225-4 from a rain reduced 35 overs. Woodvale never really threatened, with van der Merwe completing a fine game with 3-9, as YM ran out winners by 120 runs. That win sees YM maintain their number one ranking, with Woodvale also a non-mover at 33. YMCA have a tough home draw in the second round, when they play CIYMS or Merrion
Clontarf were also strong favourites, as they faced Munster (and fellow Division 1) side, Cork County in Castle Avenue. A valuable last wicket stand of 44 between Andrew Wootton and Junaid Amin gave County no more than a feint hope as they posted 144ao, Stephen Moreton taking 4-52 from his ten overs. What should perhaps have been a stroll in the park for Clontarf became a nail biter, as regular wickets saw Clontarf collapse to 104-8. Eoghan Delany was anchoring the innings from number five, and he found a like-minded partner in younger brother David Delany. The two added 41 for the 9th wicket to see last year's runners up home. Clontarf stay unchanged at 3rd in our rankings. Clontarf host Railway Union or Strabane in the next round.
2014 Irish Senior Cup champions The Hills looked to have a tough tie against NCU side North Down, but with useful contributions from Max Sorensen (49) and Naseer Shoukat (65), they were able to post a total of 199 from 50 overs. Against many sides that would prove perfectly chaseable, but The Hills have one of the best seam bowling attacks assembled in recent years, and Mssrs Sorensen, Carolus, Murphy and Shoukat took 9-130 between them, as North Down fell 40 runs short. The Hills stay at number 6 in our rankings and they travel to Instonians or Malahide in round 2.
Pembroke headed to the North West, where they played Eglinton. It was a far from straight forward tie for the Leinster side. From 90-5, Jono Cook (84*) and Danny Hogan (26*) added 87 unbeaten for the 6th wicket to give the Pembroke bowlers something to play with. Eglinton started badly, with Josh Little bowling tightly (he eventually finished with 1-9 from 8 overs) - they collapsed to 45-5. However Millar (53) and Averill (28) got them to 137-5 before another collapse, this time inspired by Jono Cook (5-24) saw the last five wickets fall for 16 runs, giving Pembroke a 24 run win. Pembroke will host Decker Currie's Ardmore in the second round. Pembroke's ranking moved one place upwards, with them finishing the day as the number 11 team on the island.
North County had one of the harder tasks of all Leinster sides, as they travelled to Donemana to take on a side ranked one place higher in our rankings - 12th to 13th. County posted a solid 220 all our, with professional Brenton Parchment scoring 43 and Terry Richardson a 30 ball 39. Enter Conor Shiel, who took the first five of the first six wickets (5-31) as Donemana fell to 39-6 . A late rearguard action by Donemana saw them get close, before falling 33 runs short. County stay at 13th in the rankings, and host another North West side, Bready, in the next round.
An upset was on the cards in Rathmines as 21st ranked Leinster were 85-7 and 122ao against 23rd ranked Carrickfergus. The all seam attack of Leinster, soon had the visitors in trouble at 53-6 before former Ireland player, Ryan Eagleson got them close. He scored 32, as Carrickfergus fell an agonising 7 runs short, finishing on 115ao from 40 overs. Leinster went up one place, and find themselves back in the top 20. Leinster received another home draw, facing another NCU side, Muckamore.
Terenure gave walkover to Bready after choosing not to travel to the North West, whilst the other sides (Merrion, Malahide and Railway Union) all play their postponed matches on May 23rd.
In the National Cup, Leinster's highest ranked side, Phoenix experienced heartache at home to Derriaghy. Phoenix pro Sam Anderson took 4-16 as Derriaghy made 158ao from 29.3 in conditions that made 158 a defendable score. Even then Phoenix would still have been favourites, before a disasterous start saw them collapse to 33-4, and then 62-8 before being dismissed for 99. On the back of that loss, they slipped once place to 30th in our rankings.
Rush looked to be dead and buried in their match against Templepatrick. It was the first match of the season for Rush, and their rustiness looked to be their downfall, as after being dismissed for 118, Templepatrick progressed serenely to 88-2. Enter Saadat Gull, the Rush veteran who proceded to single handedly win the match for Rush. He had already taken two early wickets to leave Templepatrick at 0-2, and he took five more, finishing with 7-15 as the home side lost their last eight wickets for 21 runs, to leave Rush victors by a 9 run margin. Rush moved up two placecs in the rankings as a result (to 35th) and now host Academy or Burndennett in round two.
None of the other Leinster sides in the National Cup currenetly receive a full ranking in All Ireland rankings, but that may have to change, as two other sides recorded famous victories.
Laois travelled to Ballyspallen in the North West, and were soon on the front foot. Armand Smit took 4-10 and Usama Raees 3-31, as the North West Qualifying 1 league team were bowled out for 97. At 64-3, Laois looked well placed, but then lost four wickets for seven runs, to leave the game in the balance. Ben Hur had scored the day's highest score with 39, but when he departed at the fall of the fourth wicket, the game was very much in the balance. Usama Raees then completed a fine all round game with 15* to get Laois over the line with three wickets to spare. They are at home to NCU side Holywood in the next round.
Greystones also had a long distance trip, tarversing the country to get to Sion Mills in the North West. It was Greystones' first match in a National Competition, and they passed the test with flying colours. All the Greystones bwowlers had good figures, with Sino George having the best with 3-36. Greystones cruised to victory with Gary Lawler hitting 26*, David Drane 28 and Danny Barclay 39*, reaching 97 in only 21.2 overs. Greystones got a home draw in round two, albeit against either of two of the favourites for the competition, Balbriggan or Cliftonville.
The second side that came out on the wrong side of the result was Civil Service, who lost to Holywood. In a match reduced to 33 overs, Holywood hit 130-1, which proved to be 14 runs too good for Civil Service.