Unbeaten Division 2 leaders Malahide travelled to Park Lane for their game against Railway Union. And following the rain of Friday the home side won the toss and asked The Villagers to take first use of the strip. Unfortunately it didn't quite work out as they planned. Alan Reynolds and Arjun Muntha opened up for Malahide. Railway had some early success when Arjun Muntha was bowled by Andrew Jackson for 2. Anish Desai joined Reynolds and the pair moved the score on to 58 where Alan Reynolds was caught by Ciaran Divney off the bowling of Hashir Sultan for 33 from 22 balls. The dangerous Greg Ford joined Desai and took the score to 92 where Greg Ford was bowled by Dhram Singh for 10. Enter the equally if not even more dangerous Matt Ford. Desai and Matt Ford went about the bowling with relish putting together a partnership of 125 where Anish Desai fell lbw to Kenny Carroll for a well made 91 from 116 ball with 7 fours. Matt Ford was joined by Fintan McAllister and the runs continued to flow. The score had reached 302 when Matt Ford finally fell lbw to Dhram Singh for a magnificent 114 from 95 balls with 8 fours and 7 maximums. Fintan McAllister ended not out 43 from 28 balls with 3 fours and a six and Peter Chase 11 not out from 3 balls with a four and a six took Malahide to 314 for 5 from their 50 overs. Railway toiled with the ball all day faced with the batting onslaught. Dhram Singh 2-57, Hashir Sultan 1-49, Andrew Jackson 1-37 and Kenny Carroll 1-32 the wicket takers.
Needing 315 to win Railway would have to start well. However the opposite happened. They had just reached 2 when Kenny Carroll was caught by Alan Reynolds from the bowling of Peter Chase for a duck. Four runs later Abdullah Hafiz caught by Greg Ford off the bowling of James Newland. Railway not 2 for 6. Alex Stiles became Neil Boyne's first victim stumped by Fintan McAllister for 12 when the score had reached 30. Hashir Sultan retired out for 11 and Saad Ullah fell to Neil Boyne bowled for 9. Railway had slumped to 58 for 5. Ranil Dhammika and Dhram Singh combined for a partnership of 44, bringing the score to 102 where Dhram Singh went lbw to Neil Boyne for 23. On the same score Ciaran Divney again fell to Neil Boyne stumped by Fintan McAllister for a duck. Mohammad Tariq completed Boyne's five for once again stumped by Fintan McAllister for 2. Shariq Khan gave Peter Chase his second wicket caught by Alan Reynolds, just as his first one was, for 18. Ranil Dhammika was bowled by Cameron Shoebridge for 57 in 101 balls with 4 fours. Andrew Jackson ended not out 10, leaving Railway all out for 174. Malahide's bowling was always on top with Neil Boyne taking the honours with a brilliant 5-39 from his 10 overs. Peter Chase 2-28 from 10 overs, James Newland 1-48 and Cameron Shoebridge 1-7 the other successful bowlers. A comprehensive 25 pt victory for the Villagers by 140 runs. If my calculations are correct this leaves Malahide 60 points clear of second place at the top of Division 2. Theirs to lose you would imagine.