Thriller in the Bull Ring

Clontarf defeated Merrion by 4 wickets as a six from David Delany sealed the win with a ball to spare in a pulsating encounter. Delany had earlier taken 5-55 but that hardly tells the story of a thrilling match in Dublin 3.

After choosing to bat first, Dom Joyce and Jack Carty were kept in check by some terrific bowling from Morrissey (1-16) and Islam. After 10 overs Merrion were 25/1 and stuck in first gear in setting a target.

After that Joyce and John Anderson began to accelerate a little. Their 79-run partnership for the second wicket came at four runs an over and as long as they stayed together, they could launch an assault at the back end of the innings.

After Joyce was out wickets fell at regular intervals. This prevented Merrion gaining any real momentum in their innings.

Delany had been a little expensive for two overs but as his captain said afterwards, “he’s a bit special.” When he’s in the zone and bowling well he has that something extra.

As the wickets continued to fall and Merrion crept towards 220, Delany grabbed the match by the scruff of its neck. Bowling the last over of the Merrion innings, he took two wickets with his first two balls to complete his 5-fer, conceded just 3 runs and Clontarf completed a run out off the last ball to bowl their guests out for 223.

The target seemed eminently gettable for Clontarf and when Bill Coghlan came out intent on displaying his powerful shot making, the chase looked on.

Coghlan showed his skill all round the ground in making his 69 off 80 balls and his opening partner Gallagher was given the role of anchoring the innings. Their opening partnership was 107 but took up 27 overs.

Clontarf had wickets in hand but were never well ahead of the required run rate.

Gallagher took a single to go to his 50 but his 127-ball vigil was finally ended when he fell for 56, stumped by Patrick Tice.

When Nasir fell for 2 trying to up the run rate, Clontarf needed 52 off 7 overs and the nerves were rising. With momentum beginning to swing Merrion’s way, Forrest struck a rapid 17 for Clontarf.

Then, an attempted reverse sweep saw him trapped LBW and left Clontarf needing 20 off two overs. They got 11 off the 49th over bowled by Kane and needing nine off Anderson’s 50th, it was Conor Kelly who struck a decisive blow, going down on one knee to pull a boundary to deep fine leg.

Another single for Kelly left the scores tied and 2 balls remaining. Enter David Delany, no scampered single for him. A massive 6 smashed over long-off sealed a 4-wicket victory for Clontarf with 1 ball to spare.

As Patrick Tice said after the game, “a wonderful advertisement for red-ball cricket”