ALAN MURRAY CUP FINAL PREVIEW – AUGUST 9TH

The rescheduled final of the LHK Insurance sponsored Alan Murray Cup takes place on Tuesday evening in The Vineyard, with The Hills and Clontarf set to do battle, 8 days on from the cancellation of the original game due to poor weather on the August Bank Holiday.

In terms of track record, The Hills have previously won this trophy on two occasions (2007 and 2013) whilst Clontarf have won the Alan Murray Cup more times than any other club, 10 times in total having last lifted the trophy in 2018.

In addition to the Alan Murray Cup trophy, the winners will qualify for a home All Ireland Semi-Final against Cork Harlequins on Sunday next, 14th August.

Clontarf’s team come into the game in good form, off the back of a comprehensive victory over league leaders Balbriggan at the weekend and with two centurions in their side, they saw twin centuries from David Vincent and David Delany bring them into the game on a major high. Both of that pair were also in the runs in the semi-final fixture against Phoenix and their form is a big boost to the side as a result. Elsewhere in the order, PJ Moor, Ruan Cronje and Eoghan Delany will be the key men with the bat for a Clontarf side which has such a rich recent history in this competition.

With the ball, they are without Fionn Hand however he wasn’t available for the semi-final fixture, with seamers David Delany, Mick Granger and Luke Thomson performed excellently in his absence, and the attack from that day is bolstered by the return of overseas man Cronje who missed that game. In the spin department he’s supported by David Vincent, Cillian McDonnell and Paul Ryan who offer plenty of experience and options to skipper Eoghan Delany.

The Hills enter this game at almost full strength, this refix has seen Andrew Kavanagh return to the side, however gloveman Mark Donegan who was unavailable for the initial game is also unavailable this week, meaning Mark Dwyer will deputise behind the stumps. The Hills top order also comes into this game in excellent form, Cormac McLoughlin-Gavin produced another match winning innings at the top of the order, whilst Andrew Kavanagh and Athar Farooqi were both in the runs. T20 is a format which Dylan Blignaut and Levon Shields are certainly well suited to, whilst Murray Commins comes into the game off the back of a century and a magnificent 48 for the Munster Reds in the IP20 festival.

With the ball, Blignaut, Ash Bain and Tómas Rooney-Murphy have all bowled excellently so far this season, with Blignaut in particular performing well in the semi-final, taking 3/13 in a fine spell. That game however was more about the spinners than the seamers, Jonathan Tall opened the bowling and took 3/14, whilst Levon Shields took 2/21, both are in the side again this time around and are complemented further by the off-breaks of Athar Farooqi, Sam Smyth’s seamers will round off the bowling options in the side, with the ‘home’ side well equipped to try keep the in-form ‘Tarf batting line-up under wraps.

No doubt this game will be won and lost in one of the Power Play periods, Murray Commins was exceptional across the IP20 festival in Pembroke at the end of July, and he will be the man The Hills look to for a big contribution, if he can inflict some damage during David Delany’s opening spell, it will give The Hills a huge boost into the game.

KEY BATTLE: Murray Commins vs David Delany

LHK INSURANCE ALAN MURRAY CUP FINAL

TUESDAY 9^TH AUGUST

THE HILLS VS CLONTARF