Ireland Under 19’s had a hugely successful season on the field, winning seven out of eight international matches over the course of the summer, but they will travel to Malaysia next month in an effort to qualify for the Under 19 World Cup after that single defeat cost them an automatic spot at the tournament.
Starting the season in Dublin, the side faced the senior Denmark team at YMCA CC in a T20 friendly with half centuries from both Adam Dennison (67*) and William McClintock (53) seeing the side home after David Murphy took 3-28 as Denmark made 136-9 in the first innings.
The early season focus then turned to two 50-over friendlies against the North-West Warriors and Leinster Lightning as the side started building towards qualification for the ICC U19 World Cup.
A freezing cold Strabane was the venue for the opening of those games, with the match being reduced to 47 overs per side when the Warriors’ innings was interrupted by hail stones. A half century from David Rankin (67) saw the Warriors make 223 from their allocation, with Ireland pushing them close after 49 from Aaron Gillespie and a 73-run partnership between Lorcan Tucker (34) and Gary McClintock (37), but the loss of three wickets without scoring put a huge dent in the chase, and the Warriors took victory by just five runs.
It was a completely different story a few weeks later when the side took on Leinster Lightning, who boasted five players capped at senior level, as 93 from Dom Joyce and 86 in just 38 balls from Max Sorensen saw the Lightning post a formidable 309-9 in their 50 overs, Mitchell being the pick of the bowlers with 4-42.
The chase did not go well, with the under 19’s trying to keep up with the rate from the off, with wickets falling from the off and Yaqoob Ali’s spin proving too much for the youngsters as he took 6-18 to bowl out Ireland U19’s for just 67 in reply.
Before their qualification tournament in July the team got together for one more match (as well as several training camps) as they took on the Isle of Man in Carrickfergus.
A brilliant hundred from Sonny Cott (115) and a half century each for the McClintock brothers Gary and William (both 57) saw Ireland post 298-7 after opting to bat first. The Manxmen got off to a positive start and had reach 115-2 after 20 overs of the reply, but three wickets for Tom Stanton (3-43) halted the reply and the visitors were eventually bowled out for 219, handing Ireland a 79-run win.
Heading to Jersey for the ICC Europe World Cup Qualifying event the Ireland side were in good spirits and very well prepared and they could not have got off to a better start after picking up two comfortable wins from two before the first rest day of the tournament.
In the opening game, against hosts Jersey, Ireland restricted the homes side to 170-9 with leg-spinner Ben White taking 3-33 and two wickets each for Gary McClintock (2-21) and Tom Stanton (2-29) before openers William McClintock (50) and Sonny Cott (51) both scored half centuries on the way to a regulation six-wicket win.
The Netherlands were next up and it was not as simple against the only side in the tournament from the European mainland. On a dull and wet day Ireland batted first and struggled to find the form of the opening match with William McClintock top scoring as the side made 185-9 in their reduced innings of 45 overs.
With a somewhat modest total to defend the bowlers came to the fore with Rory Anders picking up 3-19 and two wickets each for Tom Stanton (2-12) and Ben White (2-26) ensuring there was a steady flow of wickets falling to bowl out the Netherlands for 109 to leave Ireland unbeaten at the first rest day.
After the rest day the bowlers continued to show their strength as they bowled out Scotland for 119 with Gary McClintock taking 3-28 as once again the wickets were spread around the team. Gary McClintock and Sonny Cott made 22 each as Ireland lost five wickets in reply, although the result never seemed to be in doubt.
In their second game against hosts Jersey, the home side got off to a great start with an opening partnership worth 51, but four wickets from Tom Stanton (4-34) ensured that the game did not get away from Ireland, with Jersey bowled out for 113.
In difficult conditions it was an incredibly patient 31 not out from 100 balls from skipper Jack Tector that helped Ireland home as they lost six wickets in pursuit of the small total.
With just one spot guaranteeing qualification for the world cup, the final two days of the competition would be crucial. They could not have got off to a much better start as Rory Anders took a hat-trick in the opening overs of the penultimate match against the Netherlands to leave them three wickets down for just four runs, but rain threatened to frustrate Ireland as the Netherlands innings was stopped after just three overs.
The sides re-emerged having lost 26 overs from the day with Sikander (62) and Asad (35) Zulfiqar, two of the three triplets playing for the Netherlands, built a 76-run partnership to keep them in the game, but by the time Ireland had bowled their 37 overs, they were the only two batters to have made double figures, with the final score being 141-9, Ireland needing a revised D-L-S target of 133 to win.
With both openers run out and two wickets for Ryan van Troost it looked as though Ireland may have struggled to make their target, but 32 from Adam Dennison and 37 not out from Gary McClintock secured a five wicket win and put Ireland in the driving seat on the final day.
Heading into the final day Ireland knew that a win, or a very narrow defeat to Scotland would be enough to see them through to the World Cup, with a defeat likely to send Scotland through, and Ireland into the global repache event in October.
Bowling first Ireland struggled to contain Scotland as opener Neill Flack made 71, with the entire top order contributing to the total. Rory Anders returned impressive figures of 4-31, but that was not enough to stop Scotland posting 244 before they were bowled out in the 49th over.
In reply Ireland did not get off to a great start, with Sonny Cott stumped in the second over without scoring. Jack Tector made a patient 43, and Adam Dennison 36 as the pair added a much needed 50 partnership after Ireland found themselves in real trouble at 43-4.
Just as it seemed the recovery was on and Ireland were back in the game, the pair fell and Wilkinson produced some of the bowling of the tournament to finish with figures of 5-22 as Ireland were bowled out for 161, agonisingly missing out on a place in the ICC World Cup on net run rate to the Scotland side that beat them on the final day.
The side will now travel to Malaysia to compete in a final qualifying tournament with the other regional runners-up to secure the final berth at the II U19 World Cup. We will bring you a preview of that in the coming days.
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