T20 Cups - Half Time Reports
Both Halverstown teams have been in Action over the last 3 weeks in their respective T20 Cup competitions. With the new "Coloured" Kits onboard, and a number of new signings over the close season, everyone was champing at the bit to get going.
Halverstown 1, captained by Hubert Beaumont, got off to a flying start against Lucan 3, picking up all 4 points with a 54 run victory. Things got much tougher against a strong Naas 1 team. They didn't have enough runs on the board, and Naas got home with an over to spare. In last game, they faced a strong North Kildare 3 side. For the 2nd game running, they just didn't score enough runs to chase down the score set by North Kildare. With only the Top team in each group going through to the knockout stages, it will be tough for Halverstown and probably need to win all 3 remaining games to progress.
For Halverstown 2, captained by Des Drumm it has been a welcome return to competitive cricket. A strong Halverstown side has taken the field in all 3 games, and has returned with 3 victories. It started with a 9 wicket victory over a youthful North Kildare 5 side. This was followed up with a huge win over Adamstown 8, in a ground where the club has struggled to find wins in recent years. A magnificent 83 Not Out from David Braithwaite capped a seriously impressive performance from the whole team to win by 132 runs. In the return fixture a much stronger Adamstown 8 team came to visit Brannockstown. However, Halverstown 2 managed to find a way to overcome Adamstown after some very wayward bowling and defended a score of 121 to win by 14 runs. They are in pole position to Top the group and progress to the semi finals. They are 4 points ahead of their nearest pursuer, Athlone 3 who they will now face in back to back games over the next couple of weekends. You would think that one win could be enough to get them over the line.
Another fantastic thing to see is crowds back at games. We've had some wonderful crowds at our home games so far and the support if very much appreciated. Hopefully we'll see plenty of more friendly faces before the season is out.
