What a wonderful end to the 5th XI season as a side packed full of youth players over came the challenge of a relegation threatened Halverstown 1st XI to squeeze home by 1 wicket in a thrilling match in the village.
With Halverstown choosing to bat first, Malahide got off to a good start with Howard Askew getting 2 quick wickets to make it 30-2. A partnerships of 71 put the visitors back in control and at 130-5 looked like getting over 200. On came the youngsters with wickets for David O' Halloran, Zac Woods-Oliver and two run outs for the Ryan Condron/Alex Davies duo. Alex (3-19) finished off the innings with a quick fire 4 overs from the Castle end and Halverstown ended on 170.
In reply, Malahide were soon in trouble at 26-3 but once again enter the young players. David (27) and Ryan (24) put on nearly 50 together. Three more quick wickets and the home were reeling on 92-6. The veterans Malcolm Ogilvie and Howard (18) stepped up briefly with a partnership of 35 but when Howard carelessly played around a straight one, Malahide were 7 down and still 41 short. Malcolm (26) pushed on and Suhaib's 16 was vital but when the last pair of SJ de Klerk and Ben Askew came together, 7 was still needed. Some great shots by SJ (15*), some stern defence by Ben and some scary running between the pair got Malahide home with 11 balls to spare and Div 12 safety.
Last game in the village for 2015 and it really couldn't have been better