To coincide with YMCA getting to the Leinster Senior Cup Semi-Final [in bowl out against Merrion] we have an article from Gerry Byrne about the club's success in the competition in the 1980s. Of course they still have to get to the final.
Cup Finals - 1984 - 1991
YMCA hit the heights
Readers of the article on cup wins in the early 1980’s will remember that the cup final in 1980 was the first time that YM reached the final. They went down narrowly on that occasion to Pembroke, by a handful of runs. However they clearly got a taste for the big occasion.
The result was that while 1984 was the year in which the Cup was brought back to Claremont Road for the first time, they repeated this success 5 more times, in all winning 6 times, in the 8 year period up to 1991. Therefore a team that had never won the cup became one with 6 in that period, including three in succession in the years 1986 to 1988 and 5 out of 6 in the period 1986 to 1991, the only interruption in this period being caused by The Hills first win when they beat Carlisle at Kimmage in 1989. Ironically both YMCA and The Hills won their first cup victory at Kimmage.
How did this dramatic change come about? The answer clearly seems to be they had a fine group of players over this period, who thrived on the big occasion. They featured 5 internationals, (though 2 of these only played during the latter part of this period) and the team was supported by others who would not have been out of place in the green of Ireland.
1985 saw Leinster avenge their defeat by YM when they beat Merrion at Anglesea Road. The final was a low scoring game with Merrion batting first finding themselves 8-5 in the final. They recovered to 149 and then had Leinster 101-7. However the Leinster 8th wicket pair put on 51* to win.
1986 saw YM return to commence their triple crown of wins. Lewy was the captain this year and not content with just winning the cup he led YM to their first ever double of Cup and League. Phoenix were their opponents in the final and this was the best match of the competition. Phoenix struggled to 190 -7 and YM looked beaten at 108-5. The key man at this point was E Masterson with a vital 44* bringing a YM victory by 3 wickets.
1987 saw the cup retained under the leadership of Ian Burns. In the first round YM scored 335-4 in an easy win against Merrion but in the next round were all out for 148 against Malahide. However that proved enough with JD Garth taking 3-16 to bowl Malahide out for 98. In a quarter final win over Leinster Garth scored 69* and Lewy 60. The final was an anti climax. YM batting first scored 294-6 (Lewy 86) at Castle Avenue against Clontarf who had lost 7 finals on their own ground. This time Garth starred with the ball again, taking 5-25 and Clontarf were bowled out for 72. Lewy got his second Man of the Match award.
1988 saw the hat trick completed under the guiding hand of Keith Bailey. Railway Union were the opposition in the final and while they put up a good fight they lost for the 6th time in 7 finals. In their 3 cup matches Ian Burns scored 215 and John Garth 176. This time Garth was MOM.
1989 was another Cup Final without YM. The final contenders were The Hills (winners of League and Cup double in only their 7th year in Senior Cricket) and Carlisle who played in the final on their own ground. The Hills had little difficulty until they came to the final. They scored 138 thanks largely to 38 by A Courell and a last wicket unbroken partnership of 26 by M Byrne and wicket keeper M Dwyer. The bowling was steady and Carlisle, all out for 115, lost by 23 runs. Carlisle never won the Cup.
1990 saw YM return to their winning ways with a victory over Clontarf. The final was at Rathmines. YM batting first scored 305-5, with Lewy scoring his 2nd cup final 100 (129*) and an unbroken 6th wicket partnership of 120 with Clive Davis (60*). In reply Clontarf reached 200-1. Lewy then came on to bowl and took 6-36 – the greatest all round performance in a final and a record 3rd MOM in a final. DA Vincent of Clontarf scored 123 to provide the first example of 2 centuries in a final. This year also provided YM’s second League and Cup double.
1991 YM retain the cup under the captaincy of Australian D Starkey. Interestingly YM had 5 different captains in their 6 cup wins, Ian Burns being the only one to captain them to 2 wins in this period. Leinster were YM’s final opponents again but YM were never really challenged in the final except for a fleeting moment when, at 7-2, Lewy was missed at slip before he had scored. He went on to score his 3rd Cup Final century (124) and got his 4th Final MOM award.
Leading YM Players over the 6 finals
Of the 6 finals played by YM over this period, 4 played in all 6 and a further 3 played in 5. These account for 39 appearances out of 66 in the finals. Interestingly beyond that the remaining 27 appearances are spread over 16 players of which there are 9 who played in only 1. The following played in at least 5 finals – Ian Burns, Clive Dais, Alan Lewis, Jonathan Garth, Angus Dunlop and Colin Haine.
Looking at the leaders on the YMCA Honours Board for Cup Finals produces the following figures. These all relate to final only. Perhaps not surprisingly Lewy features in 5 categories here, and these do not include most centuries and most Man of the Match awards which he would also top.
Alan Lewis dominated the series of matches for YMCA and was top of the batting average [95.40], scored most runs [477] and made highest score [128*]. On the bowling front got most wickets [14] and best individual performance [6/36]. Angus Dunlop had the best bowling average [8.67].