TRIUMPHANT THOMPSON FOR 'TARF - LHW FINANCIAL PLANNING SENIOR CUP - ROUND-UP

Mitchell Thompson was the star of the show in the featured action of the day for Clontarf this afternoon, as his knock was the mainstay of an excellent run chase which propelled them into the Quarter-Final stage along with Pembroke, Phoenix, North County, Dublin University, Malahide, The Hills & Railway Union.

The featured game saw Merrion winning the toss and batting first, however Clontarf made the most of their new balls and saw the back of Stephen Doheny and overseas man Connor Blaxall-Hill early in the piece, leaving them 13/2. This brought John Anderson in to join Swapnil Modgill, with the latter dominating a partnership worth 91 between the pair.

There was then a wobble, as wickets for Patrick Xie, Cillian McDonnell and David Delany reduced Merrion to 108/5 after 28 overs, and put 'Tarf well on the front foot.

Those were however the last of the wickets the visitors took, as Anderson and Sean Stanton dug in and gave their team a fighting chance. Anderson looking impossible to dislodge as he produced an excellent unbeaten 100 from the final ball of the innings, whilst Stanton's unbeaten 58 saw the pair adding a fine unbroken stand of 138 for the 6th wicket.

David Delany was the pick of the bowlers for Clontarf, with the skipper taking 3/42 from his 10 overs, including the big wickets of Doheny and Blaxall-Hill early on.

The chase began in confident style for the men from Castle Avenue, Séamus Lynch and Mitchell Thompson trading boundaries as they flew past 50 in the 8th over, moving the score rapidly to 80 before in the 12th over, a disastrous misjudgement from the former saw him run out by the quick moving Doheny at mid-wicket for 32.

Thompson was joined by Eoghan Delany, and the pair added a further 72, with the opener particularly dominant as he piled up a near run-a-ball 79 before Adam Rosslee took an excellent catch up to the stumps off Max Sorensen.

This succeeded only in bringing Patrick Xie to the crease, and when the Aussie really took it up a gear and got going after the second drinks interval, it was clearly a matter of when for the visitors. He was eventually dismissed by a brilliant Rosslee stumping for 57, before Eoghan & David Delany saw the side to victory, with the number three finishing unbeaten on 51.

Elsewhere, in the Phoenix Park, the eponymous side made the short trip to Civil Service worthwhile, as a century from Shane Getkate guided them to 206 all out, before excellent spells from Tyrone Kane and James Maginnis helped skittle out their nearest neighbours for just 89, securing a 120 run victory.

In College Park, Macdara Cosgrave's unbeaten 60 guided Trinity to victory inside 17 overs against North Kildare. Earlier in the day, three wickets for Theo Dempsey had put the 'Students' on top, before Matthew Humphreys (4/29) and Yash Bala (2/20) tore the NK lower order to shreds and seeing them all out for just 93.

Terenure travelled to Inch and batted first, however only Niqash Ali could provide a contribution of any consequence, making 55 as four wickets for Sean Sludds, along with two apiece for Abdul Ghaffar and Usman Azhar saw the Clee all out for 123. North County made quick work of the total, as thirties for Niall McGovern, Jamie Grassi, and the unbeaten Hunter Kindley saw them to victory in just 22.3 overs.

In The Village, Malahide batted first and Robbie Foulkes was again to the fore, his top score this weekend however was just 41, sharing a good partnership with Adam Doyle (31) before three wickets for each of Jordan Hollard and Sam Willemse added to Matt Hollard's 2/26 to knock the hosts over for just 172. The chase wasn't straightforward as wickets fell regularly, however an unbeaten 47 from Chris de Freitas was the leading effort, supported by 43 from Greg Ford, as the 'Brig ran out 6 wicket winners inside 28 overs.

Rush fell short in Park Avenue in spite of a remarkable knock from Nathan McGuire. In pursuit of Railway Union's 243, McGuire blasted 130 from just 102 deliveries, however it wasn't enough to see his side to victory, as five wickets for Ashil Prakash knocked them over for 203. Earlier in the day, a half-century from skipper Philippe le Roux, supported by 39 and 40 for Srihan Karpe and Liam McCarthy respectively were enough to guide the home team to what would widely be considered an above par score in their home ground, in spite of Nasir Totakhil's 5/54.

In Airlie Park, the competition debutants Adamstown asked Pembroke to bat first, and having reduced their visitors to 69/4, were the victims of an excellent unbeaten century from Jack Tector, as he shared 70 run stands with both Greg Hollins (31) and Mark Berry (27) before eventually falling for 109 in setting up a total of 234/9 in their 50 overs. Gavin Hoey's five wicket haul left the hosts in a spin, with Paul Lawson also taking 3/10 as the holders blew Adamstown away for just 70 in the 32nd over.

The final game to finish on the day saw a remarkable finish between The Hills and Leinster. The home side batted first and thanks to an excellent unbeaten century from Ollie Horlock, made their way to 252/6 from their 50 overs. He was supported later on by 40 from Edson Silva and an unbeaten 34 from just 25 balls for Matthew Weldon. Horlock and Brandon Kruger then had Leinster in a spin, as they combined for 5 wickets, reducing the visitors to 171/8 and appeared to have the hosts on the brink of victory. They hadn't reckoned for Jai Moondra and Bilal Azhar adding 79 however, making 37 and 41 respectively, before the hero of the hour Horlock once again popped up to run out Moondra to crack the door open. It was the skipper Tómas Rooney-Murphy who took the match-winning wicket of Azhar, with Leinster 2 runs short and securing victory for The Hills.

NEXT ROUND!

The Quarter Finals of the LHW Financial Planning Leinster Senior Cup will take place on June 15th, with the ties as follows;

At College Park, Trinity vs Railway Union
At Castle Avenue, Clontarf vs Phoenix
At Sydney Parade, Pembroke vs The Hills
At Inch, North County vs Balbriggan