A busy week for Merrion’s girls teams saw the U13s win their semi-final on Monday but lose out in the final, while the U15s went the whole way to win the All Ireland U15 Cup for the first time.
Yesterday [13th August] was a memorable day for the U15s. Fielding first in their semi-final against a strong Bready side they held the opposition to 126/8 in the twenty overs. The wickets were widely distributed with Trudy Molins leading the way with 3/29.
When it was their turn to bat Merrion were made to work hard by Bready but in the end came out comfortable winners losing only one wicket as they reached the target in the 18th over. Captain Aisling Lawlor made 59 not out and was well supported by Lainey Harte [34].
In the final Merrion won the toss and sought to repeat the formula from earlier in the day. The opponents this time round were the hosts Holywood who got off to a steady start with 48/1 in the 11th over. But some tight bowling from Merrion saw wickets fall regularly thereafter. In the end Holywood were bowled out for 100 in 19 overs. Molins [3/9] and Lawlor [3/10] took three wickets each with Poppy Millar taking a brace [2/30].
Another strong opening partnership between Lawlor [35] and Harte [29*] laid the foundations for victory which came in the twelfth over for the loss of two wickets.
Earlier in the week the U13 had their finals day outing at Castel Avenue. They played their first game against CIYMS and batting first made 151/2 in their 20 overs. A 64 run opening partnership between Harte [36] and Molins [46*] provided the basis for what proved a winning score.
In the end CIYMS were all out for 96 with six bowlers in the wickets.
In the final against Bonds Glen, Merrion took to the field first. In difficult bowling conditions they restricted the visitors to 115/9 but were let down by allowing 51 extras. Wickets were again well spread with two each for Norah Purdy, Annabel Purdy and Ruby Mae Casey.
When it came their turn to bat Merrion got off to a bad start losing both openers quickly. A spirited performance, built around an inning of 34 by Aimee Wilson Moore, brought them to within six runs of the target before overs ran out. The final score was 106/9.
Aisling Lawlor with the All Ireland U15 Girls Cup.
Scorecards for the matches can be found on the Cricket Ireland match centre at
https://live.nvplay.com/play/?tab=c_matches#cdef8fa70-b511-46af-8906-00b08eb81aec