The National Cup was on its way to North Dublin on Sunday evening after Rush just got the better of a thrilling battle with North West side Drummond at Strabane Park in a contest that ebbed and flowed throughout.
In the end it was a man-of-the-match winning knock of 43 from Eoghan Conway that proved to be decisive – Conway and Allan Eastwood with a 73-run stand that helped the Leinster side recover from a precarious 69 for 6 in reply to Drummond’s 171.
Drummond skipper Steve Moore opted to bat first on winning the toss and after losing Andy Christie early – bowled by former Irish international Allan Eastwood – a 40-run partnership between Chris Moore (20) and Kyle Morrow (16) got the Roe Valley team back on an even keel.
That pair and Richard McDaid were to fall in quick succession however as Lynal Jansen (3-14) led the fightback and Drummond struggled to score once Jansen and Shahid Iqbal (0-23 from 9) turned the screw.
To their credit the North West team kept going and a 69-run partnership between skipper Moore (35) and Adam McDaid (34) put them right back in it before Dean Brogan came into the attack as fifth change and ended proceedings very abruptly.
Brogan finished with 4-26 as the last 6 wickets fell for the addition of just 32 runs – Drummond dismissed for 171 – boosted by the concession of 32 ‘extras’.
Stephen Doheny and overseas man Jansen posted 41 for the 1st wicket as the southerners began the reply in good style before Neal Stewart and his captain, Moore, again put Drummond in the driving seat.
Stewart (3-21) was the pick of the attack numerically but Moore (3-36) claimed the key wickets of Jansen, Iqbal and Sadat Gull to give his side real hope.
It wasn’t to last however, Conway and Eastwood having the final say while Niall Mullen’s 18 not out nursed Rush home with just those two wickets in hand.
Drummond, as the winners did in the first innings, contributed to their own plight by sending down 29 wides, which was to prove crucial in the final analysis.
National Cup Final
At Strabane Park,
Drummond 171 all out (S Moore 35, A McDaid 34, C Moore 20, D Brogan 4-26, L Jansen 3-14, S Gull 2-32)
Rush 175/8 (E Conway 43, A Eastwood 42, N Stewart 3-21, S Moore 3-36)
Rush beat Drummond by 2 wickets
No
Connaught
