There was a real surprise as Donemana went down at Cork County by 15 runs at the Mardyke in the first round of the RSA Irish Senior Cup.
The home side batted first and despite losing Ross Durity early, Ian Coleman and Morne Bauer got them back on track. Coleman and Stephan Grobler then fell in quick succession but Bauer and Rory O’Keeffe gave the Leesiders’ inning real impetus as they added decent knocks.
The former hit 3 fours and 2 sixes in his even time 68 while Rory O’Keeffe’s 39 allowed the Mardyke men to post 171 for 8 in 37 overs before the rain arrived.
The revised target for Donemana was 190 in 36 but they started really poorly losing Stephen Wallace for 10, Richard Kee (4), Kamran Sajid for 20 and Ricky-Lee Dougherty without scoring.
Andy McBrine was still there though and with Gary McClintock (15) and then William McClintock (27) they repaired most of the early damage taking the score to 148.
The crucial blow was to come with the loss of the Warriors’ skipper however- McBrine one of Sid Joshi’s 5 victims having made 65 (4 fours and 2 sixes).
After that Cork kept the pressure on and accounted for the 2000 winners with a 15-run verdict to spark scenes of deserved celebrations which continued well into the wee small hours.
RSA Irish Senior Cup:
Cork County 171-8 off 36 overs (M. Bauer 68, R. McBrine 2-31)
Donemana 174 all out (A. McBrine 65, S. Joshi 5-37)
Cork County beat Donemana by 15 runs (D/L))
(courtesy of the Derry News)