Clontarf and North County go head-to-head in the IBI Corporate Finance Leinster Senior Cup on Saturday in Pembroke Cricket Club, with a start time of 1 p.m.
Clontarf eased into the final with an 87-run victory over Pembroke on the back of 83 from Conor Kelly and 3-12 from Ropu Islam.
North County meanwhile, had to rely on perennial hero Eddie Richardson to hit 17 runs right at the death, to bring a 5-wicket DLS victory over Merrion in their semi-final. Jamie Grassi had earlier hit 72 and overseas professional Malcolm Nofal 52 to get County in a position to secure a win.
Nofal and Clontarf’s own import Abraham Jacobus (Obus) Pienaar have been two outstanding additions to their teams, and offer their sides individual match-winning ability with both bat and ball.
There are plenty of home grown players in both squads that could prove the difference in Saturday’s final too though.
Cian Mulvanney took 5-30 as North County beat Railway Union by 101 runs in the quarter-final, while wicket-keeper batsman Jamie Grassi went to the Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand in January with Ireland.
The Clontarf side is a much more experienced one with the heavy hitting Bill Coghlan at the top of the order and the most economical bowler in the province Joe Morrissey, opening the bowling.
Clontarf are the second most successful in the competition with 13 victories and they’ve been runner-up a further eleven times. Their first win was all the way back in 1943 but they have been the dominant team of the 21st century. Since the turn of the millennium they have appeared in eleven finals winning eight of them.
Opponents North County however, have won the Senior Cup just once, in 2013, despite making six finals.
The sides met last Thursday August 16th in a league re-fix, that became an 11-over shoot-out. Clontarf won by 24 runs by DLS, thanks largely to Conor Kelly’s 47 not out and 2-18 and are realistically the only team that can challenge Merrion in the League. But Saturday is all about the Cup.
Going through the potential battles there are plenty to whet the appetite ahead of Saturday’s first ball. The miserly bowling of Joe Morrissey against the aggressive batting of Jamie Grassi, Leinster Lightning’s Eddie Richardson versus Bill Coghlan’s power-hitting, the overseas professional Malcolm Nofal head-to-head with overseas professional Obus Pienaar.
The action gets underway at Pembroke CC at 1pm on Saturday 25th of August with children’s entertainment, BBQ and full bar available throughout the day.
For those of you who can’t make it to Sydney Parade, the match will be live streamed on the Cricket Leinster YouTube Channel with thanks to Cairn Homes, IBI Corporate Finance and HBV Studios.