Having lost to Greystones in the gloom of Druids Glen last week (although we did manage to come away with a vital 5 bonus points), getting a victory over Merrion 3rds was vital to maintain our challenge for promotion and the Division 4 title. Malahide won the toss and decided to have a bat, with the experienced pairing of Turner and Pyne leading the way. However, getting to around 130 for 7 after 27 overs wasn't really part of the masterplan. The run rate was good thanks to a quick 31 from the skipper and a well made 42 from Will Kindley, but both were disappointed not to go on after getting themselves in. With 7 batsman back in the hutch and with senior players like Pyne, Kirwan and Boyne having provided Merrion with some catching practice, enter some calm heads on young shoulders. Riley Shoebridge and David O'Halloran showed real fight in putting on a partnership of over 60 for the 8th wicket putting the pressure back onto the Merrion bowlers who assisted the Malahide cause by sending down 62 extras !!!
​David's knock of 14 was hugely important and he was going really well when he was run out. Riley showed great maturity knowing that he had to stay until the end of the innings and he finished on 48no. 250 had been a long way off with 7 wickets down but both Riley and David showed the rest of the team how it should be done.

With the ball, Malahide got off to a decent start with Glenn and Atif taking a wicket a piece, with Skipper Turner taking a spectacular one handed catch in the slips. Will then ripped through the middle order with a superb spell of 4 for 11 and Conor Gibbons showed that if you're good enough then your young enough by celebrating his return to the 2nds with a wicket. David O'Halloran then backed up his batting exploits by bowling 3 overs of good swing bowling for only 5 runs showing that there is going to be competition for places in the 2nd XI. So in the end a comfortable win that keeps our title hopes very much alive but Merrion could have been faced with a far more manageable run chase had it not been for the efforts of Riley and David (assisted by Atif) to dig us out of a bit of a hole.