A little bit of history was made at Park Avenue on Saturday when North County's decisive 100-run victory over Railway Union won them a place in the Leinster Senior Cup final for the first time. Their ultimate opponents, in the competition sponsored by Conqueror, will be Clontarf, and the fact that the final will be played at the home of The Hills at Milverton in the heart of Fingal all but gives them home advantage.

This was hardly a cliff-hanger of a semi-final, it has to be said. North County won the toss and batted first to make a respectable 201 for eight off the regulation 60 overs, and when Railway Union's best batsmen subsequently departed in rapid succession an air of inevitability descended on the proceedings.

David Ford was top scorer for North County with a fluent 51, which included three fours, and was well supported by Paul Mooney and Dara Armstrong, who contributed 42 and 41, respectively. Alan Corcoran bowled well for Railway to take three for 24, while Ian Hewett's brace of wickets was expensive, at two for 44.

Railway Union's response began disastrously, when Jason Molins lost his wicket by a run out, when only 23 runs were on the board. Simon Milton batted resolutely to top-score for Railway with 33 (five fours), but the only other batsman to offer any real resistance was Greg Molins, who scored 21 before being caught by Paul Mooney off the bowling of Joe Murphy.

Conor Armstrong bowled particularly well for North County to take four for 26, while Paddy Martin picked up the wickets off the three tailenders without conceding a run. Railway Union spent all of five overs on 97 without scoring, which rather tells it like it was. There were no arguments about the merit of this historic North County victory.