Annual Report of the Honorary Secretary to the members 2008

Our season opened in a freezing College Park(what a contrast to 2007) with a win. We made 182 R. Hoken 70, K. Carroll 32, R. Forrest(jnr) 29. Trinity replied with 170. Paul Cron 9.2.22.3. At close of play the umpires were greeted at the pav. steps by Pres. John Glynn with brandies, much appreciated.

Our first(and only) game in the north produced a win at Belmont. Leps 191/2 N. Jones 110, Davy Johnston 38, J. Hool 25. Campbell's reply was 136 C. Andrews 3-39.

We hosted & beat Waltham Forest at Rathmines. Leps. 288 K. Carroll 94, Deryck Vincent(as if he had never been away!) 46. W.F. made 216 Allen Smith 7.1.40.2.

Both Leinster Schools games were lost to rain, which also curtailed the St. Columbas match. We had made 218/5 L. Canning 86, P. Cron 73. College 54/2 r.s.p.

After a lapse of ten years or so we took on the Irish Univs. Matt Dwyer led a strong side to a 30 run win. Leps 246 M. O’Herlihy 113, R. Forrest(jnr) 48*. Univs. 213. J. Mooney 7.2.18.2, B. Dunk 5.0.20.5.

A new fixture saw us playing an Indian XI for the RANJI trophy(kindly presented by Ann Summers oops Chambers) to commemorate Ranjisinji who lived in Connemara between the wars. We chased their 103 without loss.

Another new departure brought us to Headfort for a match v. Fingletoad Chardonnays on the last Sun. in July. The opposition turned out to be a mixture of the great and the good of New Zealand cricket (except Geoff Howrath), a few Aussies, two Canadians and a Tasmanian with a big farm, on their way to the Golden Oldies festival in Shrewsbury. The good lord provided the best day of the summer, Lingard provided everything else. A drawn game saw the visitors make 124/7 Tom Butler 8.2.16.3, M. Halliday 11.1.28.1,& Simon Corlett 8.4.7.0. in reply to our 139 N. Wilkinson 32, R. Forrest (SNR!) 30 (for 2…….his innings included the shameless run out of M. Halliday…..mea culpa).
Everything else consisted of lunch in the main hall and tea (taken under the shade of the big tree). Apres ski consisted of a visit to the Railway Bar and a sit down meal in the Headfort arms. Our visitors were tired bunnies on their return bus journey to Dublin. ( too tired even to join in the choruses of Enda McDermott’s Gilbert & Sullivan numbers.) Speaking of their bus ….. on arriving at the gates of Headfort the driver reckoned the entrance was a bit narrow. A passing helpful(if there is such a thing) Meathman offered advice in front of our bemused visitors “ You’ll get the bus in all right, but I don’t know about the wing mirrors”

Early August brought us to Mt Juliet to play White City, where Charles men chased 187 C. Butler 87, A. Nixon 36, D. Yule 29.

Later in the month we had the pleasure of playing on Peter Savill’s new Oakhill ground in Wicklow ably led by Mark Nulty. Our 158/8 S. Singh 37, Peter(George) O’Donnell 24(on debut) was never quiet enough against a star studded “local” side. We went down with all flags flying taking 5 wickets along the way. Robert Forrest’s 7.0.37.3 the highlight. His father's catching of A. Cotzee the miracle!

The usual trip to the South-east brought the season to a most enjoyable conclusion. Though well beaten in Bagenalstown, Mt. Juliet got home by 2 wkts off the last ball. Rob. O’Connor starred with the bat on Sat. & the ball on Sun. The final of the Noel Mahony Cup took place in June in Pembroke between Rush(127/4) and Taney(108). In presenting the trophies Des Foot spoke fondly of the benefit of Noel’s coaching 70 or so years previously. He struck quite a chord with the stars of the future. This was one of many trips from Borris to perform his Presidential duties, what a job he did over two years.

Dick Forrest, (Hon.Sec.)

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