The weekend set a tough schedule for Cork County with the 1st XI facing a trip to Syndey Parade to take on Pembroke in Leinster Division 1 followed by a home fixture against Premier Division table-toppers Limerick. The 2nd XI began their quest to bring back some silverware with a home tie against Tipperary County in the Munster Junior Cup on Saturday.
Leinster Division 1
The trip to Pembroke proved to be in vain with an extremely wet weather front making its way up the N8 & N7 and keeping the travelling party company to wash out most of the fixtures in Dublin on the day. The game will now be refixed as a T20 at Laois CC within the coming weeks.
Munster Junior Cup
The Quarter Finals of the 2017 Junior Cup presented County with a tough challenge against Tipperary County who had defeated them in the Final of the same competition two seasons previous. With the 1st XI taking the poor weather from Friday evening up with them to Dublin, the Mardyke was left bathed in sunshine and a good hard track left from Friday nights Hanley Energy IP20 clash.
Winning the toss, Scot Jeffers decided to bat and put a score on the board but some early seam movement saw openers Paul McDowell and Peter Barlow depart without working the scoreboard. In form Robert Duggan never really got going and following his departure due to a mix up between the wickets, James Hunter, Anto O’Reilly (46) and Darren Fogarty (24) helped guide the home side to an under par 177 all out.
The Tipperary response never really gathered momentum with the loss of key wickets at opportune times for the County bowling attack. The turning point was the introduction of Duggan taking 4-32 off his 8 overs and nullifying the hard hitting middle order including their skipper Ginson Abraham. The County captain Scot Jeffers then brought himself on to remove the tail by taking 3-15 and secure his side a place in the Junior Cup Semi-Final at home to County Kerry 2.
Cork County 177 all out (O’Reilly 46, Fogarty 24, Thomas 3-18) beat Tipperary County 92 all out (Duggan 4-32, Jeffers 3-15) by 85 runs at the Mardyke.
Munster Premier Division
A top of the table clash awaited in the Premier Division with pace setters Limerick making the trip to the Mardyke to take on the defending champions. After an impressive 9 wicket victory over Galway, County were in confident mood and the addition of Munster Reds paceman Aaron Cawley gave the home side added confidence.
Winning the toss, skipper Stephan Grobler opted to bat which proved to be the correct decision with Gary King making his maiden century for the club (129 off 133 runs) assisted by contributions from Aaron Cawley (50) and Ian Coleman (22). County finished on 273-9 off their 50 overs.
In reply, the Shannonsiders needed a solid partnership to kickstart their innings but the loss of wickets at regular intervals despite some ill disciplined bowling and sub standard fielding by the home side. At the start of the 23rd over and with the visitors 105-5 (Duggan 2-22), the rain became too strong to continue which meant Limerick were 53 runs behind the DLS par score so needed the weather to clear and the action to return if they stood any chance of winning. In the end, the rain never cleared and the captains shook hands leaving County with a deserved win on their route to retaining the Premier Division title.
Cork County 273-9 (King 129*, Cawley 50, Coleman 22) beat Limerick 105-5 (Duggan 2-22) by 53 runs on DLS after rain stopped play in the 23rd over at the Mardyke. scorecard