The Hills save best until last

The Belvedere College ground in Cabra hardly compares with The Close in Sir Henry Newbolt's Victorian epic poem, Vitae Lampada. All the same, as the Leinster Senior League Section B match between Old Belvedere and The Hills drew to its end last evening, there were breathless hushes aplenty, and the ten to make and the last man in described the situation perfectly. The Hills' cause looked lost when the home team needed 11 runs off the last three overs, with two wickets in hand. Then Alan Cousins skied a ball from Mark Clinton to Matt Dwyer, who gratefully held the catch, out in the deep.

Enter the last man, one Fintan Synott, soon to celebrate a half-century of birthdays and rapidly overtaking Alec O'Riordan's club record of over 800 wickets. His partner was the redoubtable skipper, Hugh Prior, batting at number nine and on 25 dogged runs; the normal scenario would have cast Synott as the more vulnerable, when Old Belvedere were just six runs away from victory.

Two overs remained, and young Joe Clinton, at that stage wicketless, bowled the penultimate one at Prior, no runs came off the first four balls, and we were looking at six runs being needed off the final six balls of the match. But with the fifth ball, Clinton flummoxed Prior, shattered (mar a deirtear) the stumps, and breaths were finally released.

A low-scoring match, certainly, but one which provided some excellent performances, individually and in team terms. Mark Clinton had been the game's top-scorer with 36 when The Hills batted first, and John Andrews and Brendan Moore contributed 28 and 15, respectively. Synott, as usual, bowled superbly for Old Belvedere, taking three for 26 off his 15 overs, while Peter O'Reilly conceded only 18 runs in his spell, and removed John Archer.

Old Belvedere opener Barry Tucker, seventh wicket to fall, scored 32, Anto Canavan rattled up 23, and Prior's 25 brought victory tantalisingly close. But fair dues to The Hills' team spirit and to their bowlers; Luke Clinton picked up four wickets, and Matt Dwyer an economical three.

Joe Clinton had just one victim in almost nine overs. But he was the match- winner; Sir Henry would most definitely approve.