Halverstown 1st inns: 69 for 6 D.Brown 24* D.Drumm 10* M.Coyle 8 P.Carroll 6
R.Duffin 2-0-14-4 J.Butler 2-0-6-1 R.Harding 2-0-5-0 K.O’Neill 2-0-6-0
Mount Juliet 1st inns: 80 for 5 R.Duffin 23* Gitteri 17* Kirk 9 Laurie 6
R.Hegarty 1-1-0-1 D.Brown 1-0-2-1 D.Drumm 1-0-6-1 A.Barber 1-0-8-1 P.Carroll 1-0-14-1 B.McAllister 2-0-9-0 J.Murphy 1-0-5-0 M.Coyle 1-0-5-0 G.O’Shea 1-0-7-0
Halverstown 2nd inns: 80 for 5 J.Murphy 25* M.Coyle 15 G.O’Shea 13
R.Duffin 1-0-4-2 John 2-0-10-1 R.Harding 2-0-17-1 J.Butler 1-0-2-0 K.O’Neill 2-0-10-0
Mount Juliet 2nd inns: 70 for 6 : R.Harding 27* R.Duffin 12* John 9
B.McAllister 1-0-6-1 J.Murphy 1.1-0-7-1 R.Hegarty 2-0-8-1 D.Brown 1-0-8-1
P.Carroll 1-0-8-1 D.Drumm 1-0-11-1 M.Coyle 1-0-9-0 G.O’Shea 1-0-12-0
I wrote last year, in my report of the equivalent fixture, that “Mount Juliet seems to be place where old meets new”. Here we were again on a pleasant day, on the banks of the Nore with the graceful arches of Ballylinch bridge in the background and it just seemed like the perfect place to be yet again. There was indeed much new meeting the old in this, for some of us, so familiar a ground. Both teams had new faces, some making their cricketing debuts. We hope they enjoyed what was a good and sporting encounter, all the more so because Mount Juliet did not administer the traditional hiding to us. Halverstown Oaks can be proud of the show put up, particularly in the field- though there were some good performances with the bat also.
The format was as per last year: two innings each of 12 x 8 ball overs with batting order reversed for the 2nd innings. Not only is it a good format for a friendly game, it was a way to ensure that both teams got in both batting and bowling before any rain came. We made it a bit more Taverner-like with retiring at 25 and a warning for LBW - and indeed the rain stayed off, surprisingly. We won the toss and batted first. David Brown hit a comfortable 24 not out- perhaps too comfortable since he failed to her the format and thought he had plenty of time to make the runs! There were no other notable scores though Paddy Carroll, a beginner, hit a nice 4 in his innings. Their captain, Richie Duffin was just too good with the ball, taking an impressive 4 for 14 in his 2 overs. Our 69 did not look very comfortable but we bowled and fielded well, restricting them to 80, with only 2 of them making double figures also- Richie of course being top scorer with 23*. We used 9 bowlers and everyone performed well. It was good to see Paddy take his first wicket and David turn in for 2, but the star was new boy Rob Hegarty with a wicket maiden for his over.
Reversing the order saw James Murphy, new to cricket, open the batting and- although we were now getting used to how well be bowls- he showed us how he can bat with 25*. Michael Coyle and Ger O’Shea scored well and quickly to give us a chance, helping us to 80. We had to restrict Mount Juliet to under 70 and we started brightly but Ross Harding’s 27* left us struggling and Richie’s quick- fire 12* saw them get the win with just under 3 overs left. However there were good signs: of the 9 bowlers 7 took a wicket and all acquitted themselves well; David Brown looked very comfortable both with bat and ball ;James Murphy can bat as well as he bowls; the new players impressed generally, notably the outstanding bowling of Rob Hegarty; Cecil got another stumping and in what was overall a good fielding I took 3 catches. Another defeat , but a well fought game!