THE cream of club cricket gets a chance to show off its quality in front of the 10,000 capacity stands at the RSA Irish Senior Cup final on Saturday. And while most of those seats will remain empty on the day, the cricketers of Merrion and Clontarf will give as much passion and commitment as the men wearing green or red will, ten days later.
It is the sixth all-Dublin final in the last decade and the strength in depth in the Leinster province is shown by the appearance of Clontarf, a Division 2 side, albeit one already assured of promotion for 2014. Tarf are the first side to reach the final having been forced to play a preliminary round since Limavady in 1999.
Clontarf’s route to the final was arguably less arduous than their opponents’, with three local ties and just one trip outside the province to beat Fox Lodge in the quarter-finals. But the semi-final stage was the toughest ask of all against the highly-motivated YMCA, who were foiled by an excellent stand between Bill Coghlan (80no) and Vijay Gopal (72). Coghlan is the tournament’s leading scorer with 296 runs, including three 50s.
Merrion had an epic voyage, knocking up 200 plus scores and defending fiercely against three of the top four sides in the NCU and a top four North West club. John Anderson has been magisterial, rattling up 105no, 77, 16 and 86no over their journey and silencing those who whinged at his selection for Ireland. Dom Joyce has been with him all the way, his own contributions of 40no, 65, 31 and 37 often just as vital.
The final sees the first fraternal face-off since Gavin and Eoin Morgan went head-to-head for Rush and Malahide in 2002*.
Joe Morrissey, now 35, started his career with Merrion, but moved to Clontarf in 2006 and has been a mainstay of their attack ever since. His tally of 15 wickets is by far the most in this year’s tournament, at a highly impressive cost of 8.60. Brother Simon – who won an All Ireland League medal with Lansdowne earlier this year – is already an Irish Senior Cup winner from 2010 when he kept a lid on Tom Fisher and Kenny Carroll in an economical ten over spell.
“Joe’s a very good friend of mine, but I can’t say I enjoy facing his bowling”, admits Merrion skipper Dominick Joyce. “He’s got me out a few times now. But we haven’t crossed swords this season yet because he’s playing in Division 2.”
The clubs met at the quarter-final stage last season, when Merrion ran out easy winners with more than 17 overs remaining. Clontarf started well that day, reaching 116-2 thanks to Mitch Watterson (42), Bill Coghlan (30) and Andrew Poynter (27), but folded in the face of Ben Ackland who took 5-38 as they collapsed to 162 all out. Ackland and Anderson went early, but Joyce (73no) and Aussie pro Tim Lang (64no) put on an unbeaten 130 to secure an eight wicket win.
In fact, Merrion have won the last four of their meetings in 50 or 60 over competitions, by margins of 6 wickets, 125 runs, 40 runs and 8 wickets, with Clontarf’s last win coming on opening day in April 2011.
But Clontarf have targeted this competition this year, perhaps as a reaction to their surprising relegation last summer.
“We targeted everything to be honest,” explains captain Eoghan Delany. “Being a Division 2 team allowed us to go under the radar and play with freedom. It's a really big statement that we're in this final and one that our chairman Iain Synnott said we should make at the end-of-season dinner last season. Obviously targets need performances to be reached and so far we've played to the level required and more.”
Delany is respectful of their opponents.
“Merrion's batting is their forte. I rate John Anderson as the best club batsman in Ireland in recent years and it's good to see him carry his abilities to an international level. He will be the key wicket.
“I know what I'll be getting from our three main seamers, but if Andrew Poynter and Conor D’Arcy can turn the screw in those middle overs then that will be pivotal. With the bat, anyone in our top seven can turn the game with big runs.”
Clontarf have won 19 out of 20 full-day games this season, their only defeat by four wickets to Pembroke in the RSA Leinster Senior Cup semi-final.
But they will be without their biggest gun in Alex Cusack, whose season ended in Holland in early July with a back injury, and Mohammed Amir Anwar has returned to India. On the other hand their top order includes plenty of prolific, experienced batsmen in Coghlan, Andre Botha, Andrew Poynter, Dom Rigby and Delany, and while Coghlan has been out of sorts lately he has steeled himself for one last effort, even if he may not be fit enough to bowl.
Their seam attack of Zander van der Merwe, Morrissey and Botha are both canny and incisive, but their remaining overs will have to be bowled by Poynter, D’Arcy and Adam Craig, which is where Merrion will fancy taking control.
Merrion lost their Queensland opening bowler ‘guest’ some weeks ago, but pro Brett Thompson has been a solid acquisition, scoring 464 league and cup runs at 51. With a top order that also includes Anderson, Dom Joyce, Tyrone Kane and Ben Ackland they will take some toppling. Nathan Rowe is ineligible so veteran Aussie Kade Beasley comes up from captaining the 2nds.
The Ballsbridge men are competing in their third Bob Kerr final in four years, and those hard-fought games will stand to them at Malahide. “I suppose if it’s your first game then the nerves might get to you a bit”, says Joyce, “but we’ve played a lot of finals in the past few years so it shouldn’t be a problem.”
He acknowledges that Merrion usually target the Irish Senior Cup. “We always love playing in this competition. We’re really proud of our club and see this as a chance to prove that we’re one of the best clubs in Ireland. We love experiencing new grounds and playing against different players.
“We have to be considered one of the best teams around. On Saturday if our top order fires than we could bat Clontarf out of the game – but then they have a lot of depth in their batting with Andre coming in 6 or 7.”
Saturday should prove to be an epic, and I won’t be surprised if 600 runs are scored on the day. Clontarf have the winning habit, and a powerful top order, but Merrion more than match them on that count. The absence of Cusack and Anwar has rocked and unbalanced Clontarf’s attack however, and if Tyrone Kane is fully fit his overs may prove decisive.
Any team that can go to Waringstown and win at a canter deserves a trophy, and I expect another John Anderson century and a Merrion win.
PATHS TO THE FINAL
CLONTARF
Prelim Rd: beat Malahide (a) by 120 runs
Rd.1: beat Ballymena (h) by 105 runs (D/L)
Rd.2: beat Phoenix (h) by eight wickets
Rd.3: beat Fox Lodge (a) by five wickets
SF: beat YMCA (a) by five wickets (D/L)
MERRION
Rd.1: beat Coleraine (h) by 99 runs
Rd.2: beat North Down (h) by 24 runs
Rd.3: beat Waringstown (a) by 67 runs
SF: beat CSNI (a) by 92 runs
* Fógra: That 2002 cup final was won by Eoin’s Malahide, but the family battle was won by Gavin, who scored 26 and took the wicket of his 15-year-old brother for 9.