MERRION WIN BY 19 RUNS TO RETAIN ED SPORTS WOMEN’S SENIOR CUP FOR 2026

Merrion are the ED Sports Women’s Senior Cup Champions for the 10th time having overcome a spirited Balbriggan side in the Final at Sydney Parade earlier this evening.

In doing so, Merrion have retained the title they secured just 12 months ago against Pembroke and will be the Cricket Leinster club representatives in the All-Ireland Preliminary Final on Sunday 9th August. 

A thank you from Cricket Leinster to the following people:

⇒ To Ed Dwyer and Lorraine McGowan of Ed Sports (part of So Hockey Group) for their sponsorship support.

⇒ To all at Pembroke CC for being excellent hosts as always – Philip & Bhavna Byrne, the Live Stream team and commentators (Niall Walsh, Craig Senior, Graham Mooney, James Cresswell and Amanda Dunlop) and GM By Choice (and their new arrival!)

So how did things unfold?

Having won the toss in bright summer sunshine, Balbriggan somewhat surprisingly chose to bowl first against Merrion in the Final. Courtney Gounden opened the bowling and struck immediately with Annabel Squires stumped by Julia Hoal without scoring. Aisling Lawlor then joined Bella Armstrong and they scored rapidly such that Merrion had reached 69/1 off the first six overs. The Merrion 100 came up in only the 8th over as the Balbriggan bowlers all struggled with line and length.

Lawlor brought up her 50 off just 34 balls with Merrion 116/1 off the first 10 overs. Armstrong then brought up her own 50 in the next over off just 26 balls as the pair had shared 20 boundaries to this point in a run-fest.

Merrion continued on relentlessly to the extent that they had reached 141/1 after 13 overs (at drinks). Armstrong eventually fell in the 19th over for a brilliant 97 off just 49 balls (13X4 & 3X6). Aoife Brennan perished first ball pursuing late runs to give Gounden her third wicket, finishing with a very credible 3/34 off her 4 overs in an otherwise chastening experience for the Balbriggan bowlers.

Lawlor finished unbeaten on 83* (off 66 balls) as Merrion finished their allotted overs by setting Balbriggan a mammoth 205 to win at over 10 runs per over. The partnership between Armstrong and Lawlor had yielded 189 runs in 18 overs.

In response, Balbriggan embarked upon the chase with Courtney Gounden and captain Lara Maritz facing the Merrion skipper, Niamh MacNulty with just 5 runs conceded off the first over. Sibha Bhoja then conceded 14 off the second over to allow the Balbriggan openers to settle into their task.

Gounden survived a chance off MacNulty in the 5th over but otherwise Balbriggan progressed with relative ease such that they had reached 47 without loss off the first 4 overs with no less than 16 extras conceded as Merrion also struggled with line and length.

Julianne Morrissey was then introduced in the sixth over and she immediately eased some of the pressure building on Merrion by capturing the prize wicket of Maritz caught at extra cover by Armstrong for 14 off 16 balls.

The bowling combination of Morrissey and Armstrong steadied things somewhat for Merrion as the required run-rate continued to climb. That said, Madison Landsman and Gounden combined well for Balbriggan such that they had reached 94/1 at the half-way stage and were still in the game albeit now requiring almost 12 runs per over.

Lawlor was introduced into the attack in the 12th over and on the final ball of her first over, she had a good lbw shout and whilst the appeal concluded, Gounden was run out by a brilliant direct hit from Aoife Brennan – a crucial blow to Balbriggan at a crucial stage in the chase.

Meanwhile Armstrong completed her 4 over spell from the St John’s End for just 25 runs, relatively parsimonious in the circumstances. 82 runs were now needed off just 36 deliveries.

Julia Hoal came in at number 4 and immediately provided added impetus to the chase as she partnered with Landsman to add 54 in the next 5 overs. Landsman then perished in Morrissey’s last over stumped by Aoife Brennan in the 17th over for a well made 41 off just 32 balls.

In the end Balbriggan finished 19 runs short on 185/4 off their allotted overs – Merrion CC Women are the ED Sports Senior Cup Champions for 2026.