It would be unfair to continue with this series without looking at the highs and lows of Old Belverdere over the first 13 years of the century. With a heyday in the late 1960s, Old Belvedere were still a force in the late 90s, but from then on, the club went into decline, sadly slipping away in 2013.
During the period in question there were many tough seasons, but enough wins to keep the opposition on their toes. The popular perception may be that the team slowly slipped away, but in fact the highpoint came relatively late, and as can be seen below, there was a big difference between that team and the team that was at the very bottom five years before.
Old Belvedere's low - rating 24.335 - ranking - 52nd - date August 22 2006 - after tie with Pembroke
A tie against Pembroke in 2017 would be considered a decent achievement. However in 2006, Pembroke were struggling and the points that Old Belvedere received for matching the Sandymount side on that day, were not enough to improve their rating, and they slipped to their loweest ever point.
The fact that this particular Old Belvedere team should have fallen to such depths is something of a surprise, as the team was stacked full of talent, many of whom have gone on to have successful careers elsewhere. The scorecard can be found on Cricket Europe here. Belvo batted first, with Darryl Calder going cheaply (later to become a stalwart with The Hills) and opening with Carlo Rendell (long time member of Railway Union). Richards scored 68 and Bailey Boland (now in Clontarf) 53, as Clontarf got to a decent 215.
In reply a young whipper-snapper by the name of Balbirnie scored 90, but the rest of the line up struggled against the Belvo bowling, with Rendell, and Sameer Dutt (now with Clontarf) causing most of the damage. However, there is no point trying to gloss over the situation - this tie (coupled with older wins slipping out of Old Belvedere's rating) meant that this was the lowest point the team reached.
Other players on that team were the two O'Donnells, Peter and Richard, Derek McGeehan (now of Clontarf) and Gulab Singh (North Kildare). The team finished bottom of Section B/Division 2, only winning one league match.
Old Belvedere's high - rating 58.753 - ranking - 37th - date May 4 2010 - after 3 run win over Downpatrick
Four years later, Belvo reached their highest rating although there had been a big turnover in players. Only Richard O'Donnell and Sameer Dutt remained from the low point and the peak was reached after a famous Irish Senior Cup win away to Downpatrick.
The card can be found over on Cricket Archive here and reveals the full extent of the changes. Simmi Singh hadn't quite established himself as one of the top allrounders in the province, but was still a formidable player. Rajesh Chawla (now in North Kildare) was more than useful, Syed Ali was a frequent run scorer, and Sadaf Raza was a prodigious leg spinner for Belvo as well as Leinster and Balbriggan.
The 2009 season had been a bit more promising for the team, and they had chalked up three wins. This Irish Senior Cup game was a classic early season, low scoring affair. Only Ahmed Dar passed 20, as Old Belvedere were bowled out for 114. The Belvo bowling attack was well suited to the situation though, and all bowled well to dismiss the NCU side for 111.
Interestingly, Simmi Singh did not even bowl, as Dutt put in a magnificent spell of 10 overs, 2-18. It was to be as good as it got for Belvo though. They ran up against a rampant Waringstown in the next round, and despite winning three league games, the end was nigh. Cricket Leinster brought in relegation in 2011, and when Old Belvedere finished bottom that year, the end was nigh.
All that remained were many decades of memories, such as that day in Downpatrick.