Scorecard

Drummond v North Kildare Cricket Club Men's 1st XI on Sat 23 May 2015 at 12.30
North Kildare Cricket Club Lost By 32 Runs (D/L)

Match report The firsts traveled up north for the first leg of the National Cup expecting a full game of cricket for the first time in four seasons. Untimely weather a couple weeks before saw the first attempt rained off - a shame as the home tie suited the first team down to a tee. Missing five first team regulars (including skipper Neavyn), North Kildare were weakened and Vossie filled in as captain on the day.

The firsts finally arrived; roughly three and a half hours later - stiff as the car door that they hopped out of. Amazingly; every NK player on the day had arrived with over an hour before the game was due to start - a feat that NK rarely achieve while playing at the Maws... Vossie lost the toss and the oppo decided to have a bat. Vossie would've liked to have bowled anyway, so it was a good toss to lose on this occasion.

Other than a shaky start with the ball from Chaser, NK had made serious inroads into the opposition batting lineup and took wickets regularly thanks to a terrific opening spell from Clint who went for just 9 runs in his first 7 overs. Add a four-for from Loui (who was far too hot for the opposition to handle) and Paul Ryan who was extremely economical; NK were looking in very good position to bowl their oppo out for less than 200 on a decent wicket and quickish outfield. To cut a long story short; a dropped catch from Vossie resulted in the opposition reaching a total of 245 - not a daunting total by any means, but a total that Drummond wouldn't have got close to if NK had finished the game as they started.

Although their northern opposition had got 50-70 runs more than they should've - NK were still fully confident that they had enough batting depth to chase down their target and felt that 245 was below par.

Walshe and Matt Auret opened up for NK, but Matt was on his way back to the clubhouse for just one having been given out LBW. The in-form Paul Ryan joined Walshe and the pair looked to build a partnership and set a platform for for the middle order. This wasn't to be though, as PR spanked a high full-toss (that was questionably a no-ball) back to the bowler who took a very good low catch. 31-2 now, Vossie joined Walshe and got off the mark immediately with a well ran four. This was probably the highlight of Vossie's day (which says a lot about his first game as captain) as he was soon on his way back for an early shower - another victim falling to LBW, although the ball that got him hit on the pad just above his ankle. Loui was next man in and had faced just five balls before himself and Walshe were on their way back following an outburst of heavy rain that looked to cease any more cricket for the rest of the day.

The rain did exactly this, but; while the firsts contemplated who was going to be having a crack at a bowl-out, they were unaware as to the regulations that meant that they had virtually already been knocked out of the competition.

Vossie (who failed to check the regulations beforehand) was under the impression that there needed to be 20 overs played in their innings before DL came into play. Because the fixture was the second attempt, 10 overs constituted a game in the second innings which meant that the game was already over. If the firsts had been 27-0 after 10 overs, they would've been travelling back with a victory under their belt for the first time in the competition - but, alas - it wasn't to be - a huge shame as NK (missing 5 key players) still looked by far the better side of the two.

Although there was a huge deal of disappointed following the result, there were plenty of positives to take away from the game. Having to bring in 5 players to fill in for the first team regulars who were missing and to compete as they did is a huge credit to the work being done at NK and shows how far the club has come in such a short space of time. If NK were missing 5 players three seasons' ago, they wouldn't have been able to put out a team; never mind compete.

Other positives include a first team debut for Melissa Scott-Hayward (who took three catches behind the stumps) and Mattie O'Meara's first wicket for the firsts - no doubt the first of many. This and some good ground fielding and some excellent bowling for the most part sent a strong message as to how far the club has come.

So - the firsts have been knocked out for the National Cup for the fourth consecutive season, but at least they weren't subjected to a bowl out like the two seasons beforehand. Next up for the firsts is the big one at home to Clontarf in the league with a full strength team and a hunger to beat their opposition like no other.

A massive thank you to Anne O'Meara for travelling just to score on the day. Her willingness to help out is greatly appreciated by the first team and all at the club. Equally - Brian Horn (who traveled just to support) deserves a mention and a virtual handshake for a top effort to get down and support the firsts wherever they may travel. Both deserve huge credit and their support is invaluable to North Kildare.

NV

Drummond Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
4nb 20w 6b 5lb 
for 10 wickets
35
245 (50.0 overs)		     
K. Morrow ct  M. Scott-Hayward, bowled C. Auret 24 47 40 4 60.0
A. Christie ct  M. Scott-Hayward, bowled L. Hofmeyr 14 96 41 34.15
N. Stewart b  L. Hofmeyr 4 26 23 17.39
A. McDaid ct  N. Vorster, bowled L. Hofmeyr 1 7 4 25.00
R. McDaid ct  L. Hofmeyr, bowled M. O'Meara 32 47 35 3 1 91.43
J. Millar lbw  bowled M. Auret 13 26 18 2 72.22
S. Moore (C) lbw  P. Ryan 36 51 39 3 1 92.31
C. Moore ct  M. Scott-Hayward, bowled N. Vorster 64 130 53 3 3 120.75
M. Lynch b  L. Hofmeyr 8 15 10 80.0
S. Dunn run out  A. Chase/M. Auret 6 11 7 1 85.71
J. Martin Not Out  2 7 4 50.0

North Kildare Cricket Club Men's 1st XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Clint Auret10.0144144.004.40
Andrew Chase5.003100.006.20
Paul Ryan10.0328128.002.80
Louis Hofmeyr10.0044411.004.40
Matthew O'Meara3.0022122.007.33
Mathew Auret8.0050150.006.25
Neil Vorster4.0015115.003.75

North Kildare Cricket Club Men's 1st XI Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
19w 1b 4lb 
for 3 wickets
24
55
(16.4 overs)		    
Ian Walshe Not Out  18 60 52 2 34.62
Mathew Auret lbw  bowled, J. Martin 1 12 3 33.33 1
Paul Ryan ct  & bowled, bowled J. Martin 5 26 17 1 29.41
Neil Vorster lbw  bowled J. Martin 7 24 9 1 77.78 1
Louis Hofmeyr Not Out  0 5 6 0 1
Sean Dalton  
Andrew Chase   1
Melissa Scott-Hayward   3
Clint Auret  
Matthew O'Meara  
Dáire O'Neill  

Drummond Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
R. McDaid5.011500.003.00
J. Martin6.001628.002.67
N. Stewart3.401200.003.27
J. Millar2.00717.003.50