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Fifth Team 2009
Captain |
Rory MacMahon  RHB DOB:--/--/-- |
Vice-Captain |
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Position 09 |
8th (Inter A) |
Star Men 09 |
Imran Mohammed, Michael Lenehan, Vikram Singh, Ikram Niazi, Bard Ovenden, Khizer Khan |
Leading 5ths run scorer (2001-present) |
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Leading 5ths wicket taker (2001-present) |
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5th XI News 2010 |
Sunday July 25th - A momentous day is some respects - a cup semi final with the prospects of playing the final in Observatory Lane, and Leinster's maiden fixtrue against West Dublin side Adamstown. With little previous form to go on, it was a tough one to pre-judge, but one would have though that the 5ths league form this season thus far would have made them favourites. Paul O'Boyle, the driving force behind Adamstown had other ideas. On the same ground where the 5ths had struggled to get 90 runs the day before, O'Boyle top scored with 54, as the newcomers posted an impressive 211-8 from 40 overs. Captain Sunil scored 46 as the pair put on 83 for the 3rd wicket, a record in matches between Adamstown and Leinster. Bharat Sharma took 3-44, but in truth, the Leinster bowling struggled. It was a tough task to chase anything over 200, but at 143-4, and Dixit and Sharma at the crease, victory looked possible. That man O'Boyle then returned to the action, taking 4-31, as Leinster collapsed to 150-8, and despite 19 from Ed Wyeth at the end, the dream of playing a cup final in Rathmines ended, the shortfall being 11 runs.
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Saturday July 24th - Back to the league campaign on Saturday, and with Leinster 4ths and Sandyford 2nds tied up in a cup match, it would be interesting to see who had the most strength in depth. With hindsight it's possible to say no- one. Sandyford struggled to 91 all out, Babu top scoring with 28, and Shiyas Basheer being the pick of the bowlers with 2-4. Leinster looked dead and buried at 20-5 and then 64-8 as all the Sandyford bowlers found success. Colm Byrne joined Peter May at 71-9, and the two batted sensibly, knocking off the singles, and hitting the winning runs in the 47th over. A great win which keeps the 5ths at the top of the league
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Saturday July 17th - Game number six of the 2010 season, and win number five saw the 5ths advance to the semi final of the Intermediate Cup with a fairly straight forward victory over Clontarf 4ths. In fairness to Clontarf, they were struggling to put together a side due to an "event", but with fixtures piling up, there was little alternative. It wasn't looking good for Leinster at the beginning though, with regular wickets falling. 48-4 became 95-7, but one man stood firm with a quite magnificent 72* - step forward Rakesh Dixit. Charles Richards scored 23 at the top of the order, but Dixit was the only one who rose to the challenge, with the Kenilworth grass getting long in preparation for the rugby season. With Rakesh guiding operations, the last three wickets added 59 runs, which proved crucial. Fior Clontarf, Furlong (3-25) and Kirk (3-35) were the pick. The Clontarf innings followed a similar pattern, with one notable exception - no one played the Dixit role in the middle. Bharat Sharma was the instigator, taking 5-14 as first change, and once the top order was gone, there was little Tarf could do. Gareth Delany took 2-9 at the end, and the 5ths advance to a Inter Cup semi against Adamston.
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Sunday June 27th - After a fairly sparse early season fixture list, it's time for the 5ths to get serious. The first examination was this clash against Balbriggan 2nds, currently lying on 3rd spot. The examiners studied the paper and marked it as an E. Not really too many positives to take from the performance. Only Ross MacMahon and Shair Chaudhary passed 20, which at least is good from a youth development point of view. It was a fairly steady collapse, partnerships stubbornly refusing to develop. Take your pick as to the best /worst part of the innings - 33-3, 57-5, 83-7, 141ao. Anderson was the pick of the Balbriggan bowlers with 3-21. Peter May knocked over the openers to give Leinster some hope, with Balbriggan at 14-2, but an 55 run partnership between skipper Valson (49*) and Hugh Cashell (35) put the visitors on the road to victory. Three more wickets fell, but Balbriggan 2nds (who need to be playing at least two divisions higher for the sake of Balbriggan CC) got home pretty easily with 38 balls and five wiketd to spare. Three points for the loss, which leaves the 5ths on 70 from 100 - still top.
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Sunday June 20th - The 5ths excellent start to the season continued with a big victory over North County that wasn't quite as big as it appears on first glance. It was all North COunty 4ths for the first part of the afternoon. With only Charles Richards standing firm (an eventual 33), wickets tumbled. When Richards was the 7th man out, Leinster had only 57 runs on the board. The wickets were shared around, with Shine the highlight with 3-28. But the match defining period of play was about to be entered. Skipper Rory MacMahon and Khalid Chaudhary put on the highest 8th wicket partnership that I have on record in recent years. They added 111, taking the innings from calamity to comfort, 175 all out. MacMahon snr scored 47, Chaudhary snr 63*. With Charles Richards scoring 33, and the other eight, 20 between them, it was definitely one for experience. In fairness to North County 4ths, LCC 5ths are a league above them, and the difference showed in the second innings, as County quickly collapsed. Dixit (2-18 from 6) and May (1-8 from 6) kept it tight, before Chaudhary father and son finished the game off, Shair with an impressive 4-13, Khalid a man-of-the-match 3-17. The next round is either Clontarf 4 or Sandyford 2 at home, on a date still to be decided.
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Monday June 7th - The Bank Holiday Monday trip to Wexford seems to have become a tradition in recent years, but as in 2009 it wasn't to be. The forecast rain came at 11.30, with the 5ths having only left 10 minutes earlier. Many thanks to Ravi in Wexford for the early call. What did we used to do before mobiles?
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Sunday May 23rd - Rory MacMahon scored his third fifty in his last six knocks, leading to another excellent 5th team comeback against Sandyford 2nds on Sunday. Sandyford had first dig, and Chris Ousterhuizen (who seems to be playing against Leinster every week which is fairly ironic) went for a duck early. However runs from Babu (31), Santosh (24), Naseem (42) and Meher (30) gave Sandyford a fighting chance with 173 all out. All the bowlers were tidy, Peter May with 3-24, Shairafgan Chaudhary 2-15 and Mr Howard Block 2-28. All that good work soon went out the window, as the Sandyford change attack ripped out the 5th's top order, to leave LCC at a slightly precarious 62-5. Skipper MacMahon now joined Alan Godfrey, the pair restoring some pride with a partnership of 64 before Godfrey was removed by Santosh for 27. MacMahon was now getting into his stride, and with Chaudhary jnr, now put on another 38, reducing the deficit to only 9. Ed Wyeth couldn't repeat the previous week's heroics though, and at 165-8, it was anyone's game. However Peter May stood firm, MacMahon kept going to 60*, and despite a rather nasty dropped catch in the mouth at the end, (get well soon Mr Langton), Leinster sneaked home. A provisional 21 points from the match, leaving the fifths at a healthy 67 from 75 (89.3%)
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Saturday May 15th - A great rearguard action by Shairafgan Chaudhary and Ed Wyeth saw the 5ths keep their unbeaten record, after a 88 run over Wicklow County 2nds in the picturesque setting of Rathdrum RFC. The 5ths , led by Bharat Sharma were in early problems, as Richards, Chaudhary snr and Sharma all fell cheaply, but then a procession of batsmen made scores. Asim Mumtaz made 22, Rakesh Dixit 39 and Ben Rutherford 22. But Leinster must still have been in some trouble (maybe 160-8?) when Ed Wyeth joined Chaudhary jnr. The two took the score onto 215-8 with Chaudhary scoring 44* and Wyeth 36*. The star of the Wicklow innings from a Leinster point of view was Colm Byrne, who took a career best 4-25 from 9, as the new super-club collapsed to 127 all out. 24 points to the 5ths, who move to 46 from 50 points (92%)
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Sunday May 2nd - From a neutral's perspective the match against Ireland Women is always a slightly bitter sweet one. The national team had six players from LCC playing (Kenealy (S), Delany, Scott-Hayward, Lyons, Gee and Kenealy(A)) so there was a sizable part of me that would have liked to have seen a high scoring close encounter. It wasn't to be, mainly thanks to Rakesh Dixit, who has sprung out of the blocks this season with bat and ball. After Shillington departed early, Isobel (26) and Cecilia Joyce (24) looked to have put the visitors into a strong position. However, Dixit and then Sharma blew away the top order (Dixit 4-27, Sharma 2-14), and when no one else managed to get into double figures, the end was nigh. The bottom square has been a bit up and down this season, so 150 may have been a decent score - 92 wasn't. The 5ths huffed and puffed though, and must have been something like 70-6 before Charles Richards (21*) and Ed Wyeth (10*) came together to see MacMahon's men home. Earlier, Asim Mumtaz had top scored with 22. For the Ireland tesam, Isobel Joyce was had the best figures, 2-32, although all the bowlers deserved some credit, as the 5ths fell over the line in the 34th over. LCC 22 points (88%)
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Although the new season will bring opportunity to many, Leinster 5ths will still miss out, as they have the 4ths in the division above them, and hence won't be able to move up. There is though the carrot of the Intermediate Cup Final in Rathmines, with the 6ths also competing. What price a 5ths vs 6ths final in Observatory Lane? Probably about 1000-1. There're plenty of other reasons to get excited though. Division 8 is a mix of the former Inter A, Inter B and even a couple from Junior A, but despite that, it is hard to predict. Sandyford 2, Wexford, YMCA 3, Clontarf 4 and Leinster 5 are the five teams from Inter A, and should remain known quantities. Wicklow County 2 could be anything (but should be fairly strong) and even the two teams from Junior A should be able to hold their own. Balbriggan 2 should benefit from the gradual strengthening of that club, and Ireland Women are now a vastly more efficient outfit than they were when getting relegated for several seasons. Rory MacMahon takes over the reins, possibly a tough task for someone who only came back to the game last season. But two 50s to finish off the season confirmed his pedigree, and there's no reason why the 5ths shouldn't be competitive. The fixture list is a little lopsided - after the inter club match that will be the Ireland Women game in Observatory Lane, they travel to Wicklow, Marlay Park and Wexford, before seven home games across June, July and August. Trips to Clontarf, Balbriggan and YM close the season. Prediction? 4th out of eight.
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| Fixtures/Results |
| Leinster 5ths |
| Home |
Away |
Date |
Grade |
Ground |
Winner |
| YMCA 3rds |
Leinster 5ths |
5-Sep-2010 |
Div 8 |
Clarmnt |
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| Balbriggan 2nds |
Leinster 5ths |
28-Aug-2010 |
Div 8 |
Balbrig |
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| Clontarf 4ths |
Leinster 5ths |
21-Aug-2010 |
Div 8 |
Cast Av |
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| Leinster 5ths |
Clontarf 4ths |
15-Aug-2010 |
Div 8 |
Obs Ln |
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| Wexford Wanderers |
Leinster 5ths |
14-Aug-2010 |
Div 8 |
Wex |
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| Leinster 5ths |
Wicklow County 2nd |
02-Aug-2010 |
Div 8 |
Obs Ln |
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| Leinster 5ths |
YMCA 3rds |
31-Jul-2010 |
Div 8 |
Ken |
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| Leinster 5ths |
Adamstown |
25-Jul-2010 |
Inter Cup |
Ken |
Adamstown won by 15 runs |
| Leinster 5ths |
Sandyford 2nds |
24-Jul-2010 |
Div 8 |
Ken |
Leinster won by 1 wicket |
| Leinster 5ths |
Clontarf 4ths |
17-Jul-2010 |
Inter Cup |
Ken |
Leinster won by 51 runs |
| Leinster 5ths |
Wexford Wanderers |
10-Jul-2010 |
Div 8 |
Ken |
Match postponed - rain |
| Leinster 5ths |
Balbriggan 2nds |
26-Jun-2010 |
Div 8 |
Obs Ln |
Balbriggan won by 4 wickets |
| Leinster 5ths |
North County 4ths |
20-Jun-2010 |
Int Cup |
Obs Ln |
Leinster won by 117 runs |
| Wexford Wanderers |
Leinster 5ths |
07-Jun-2010 |
Div 8 |
Wex |
Match postponed - Rain - Refixed for Saturday 14th August |
| Sandyford 2nds |
Leinster 5ths |
23-May-2010 |
Div 8 |
Mar Pk |
Leinster won by 2 wickets |
| Wicklow County 2nd |
Leinster 5ths |
15-May-2010 |
Div 8 |
Avon |
Leinster won by 88 runs |
| Leinster 5ths |
Ireland Women 1sts |
02-May-2010 |
Div 8 |
Obs Ln |
Leinster won by 4 wickets |
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Last updated 29-July-2010.
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