An all north–side final of the 2014 RSA Leinster Senior Cup will be fought out between Clontarf and Malahide. In yesterday’s matches Clontarf beat Merrion and Malahide accounted for The Hills.
In the end both wins proved easy enough. Having won the toss and inserted Merrion, the Clontarf bowlers never let Merrion take control. A mean initial spell from Joe Morrissey set the tone and thereafter Conor D’Arcy and Paul Ryan kept the innings in check. There were brief flurries when Merrion looked like they might break out – a belligerent knock from Dom Joyce [72] and some quick scoring from Tyler Smith [33] but the final total of 234/8 in 57 overs [reduced] never looked like being enough. Mark Collier [44] and Bill Coghlan [89*] got the inning off to a quick start and even when two wickets fell quickly there was no real pressure on the Clontarf batting. In the end rain ended proceedings early and Clontarf won by 60 runs using DL.
In the second match Malahide batted first and were in serious trouble at 11/3 with Nazeer Shoukat taking all three wickets. But a double century partnership between Finton McAllister and Callum Riches more than restored the situation. The Hills then lost early wickets and ended up 66 runs short.
The two winning teams meet in the final in The Hills on 19th July.