PARK RUNS
On the Saturday morning the Malahide III XI stopped off in the old Ormond Hotel along the Quays for a pre match late breakfast. After a hearty ‘full Irish’ the squad made their way up to the nearby Phoenix Park for the 1971 Intermediate Cup Final versus Merrion III.
Merrion, captained by Tommy McGeady, batted first and occupied the crease for most of the day and ran up a very competitive Cup Final total of 177. Marvin Cassidy top scored with a hard hitting 61 and forged a partnership with bowler and late order batsman Kieran Geoghegan who chipped in with 28. “We were a young team including a number of talented teenagers from our successful underage elevens such as Joe Morrissey and Kevin Allwright. Also, we were bolstered by a couple of student cricketers from the Royal College of Surgeons. Malahide were strong, more experienced” recalls Marvin.
Cassidy survived an early life when 16 year old Barry Gilmore dropped him on the boundary in front of the pavilion. Some memories stick! Barry recalls “Cassidy pulled the ball low and hard about head height and dipping. I moved forward, just got my hands to it down by my bootlaces but the ball spilled out onto the turf.” Doc Smith was the outstanding Malahide bowler on the day with 4 for 49.
The Village began their reply late on the Saturday evening. The batting order had to be rejigged, due to work commitments, as the Final was clearly going to extend into the following week, with no play on the Sunday. Pat Young and Des Cashell opened up, Paddy Neville was promoted to number 3.
Cashell and Neville fell early. Malahide were perched at a precarious 22 for 2. The experienced Young was joined by Gilmore, who was feeling a bit of pressure to ‘get a few runs’ after the earlier expensive drop catch. However, the pair began to consolidate the innings. By close of play on the Saturday, Malahide were 70 for 2, Young on 42, Gilmore 10.
Play resumed on the Monday evening. The pair added a further 52 runs without being parted before bad light brought play to an early closure. Close of play: Malahide 122 for 3, Young 68no, Gilmore 33no.
The following evening, Tuesday, the target was a further 56 for victory. A decent crowd had gathered. Young and Gilmore continued to pick off the runs, with Young scoring at almost exactly double the rate of his teenage batting partner. Gilmore reached his 50. Word somehow filtered out to Pat in the middle that he was on 94 with six runs to win.
In his own words he knew that it was now or never. Up until that point, Young had never scored a century. He had a short backlift and was not a big hitter of the ball, but lo and behold, an inviting full toss just outside leg and he clipped it on the full over the fine leg boundary. A magical ton and a fantastic innings and an epic undefeated partnership of 156 giving the Village an 8 wicket win and the prestigious Intermediate Cup.
Looking back more than 50 years later in the company of his captain Dougie Keegan, Pat reflected on the game which is still fresh in the memory:
“Even though it was a big score by Merrion, who were a good side, we were under no pressure time wise to get the runs as the Final was played on a timeless basis with no restriction on overs. And my thinking was, I am not going to give my wicket away here. I am going to see this through with Barry.” It was clear from talking to Pat, who scored a lot of runs in Junior cricket, that he had a determined streak. In a similar but different way, young Gilmore was cut from the same gritty determined cloth. Barry, left handed, Pat right handed, they complemented each other to forge that unforgettable partnership.
The lore in the Village down the years was that Young clubbed an enormous six over the famous old pavilion in the Phoenix Park to finish off the game. “I might have had something to do with that” says Pat mischievously!
Pat and Dougie had other disparate memories from that day. Pat recalls AB “Tony” Robertson (Malahide President) walking out to the square with a pint of Smithwicks for Pat after he hit the winning six.
Both recall Les O’Shea, who was next into bat at number 5, padded up for three days, nervously circling the ground waiting for the call. Dougie remembers some ‘ruaille buaille’ in the car on the way back to the Village including the triumphant waving of the Cup out the window which just so happened to be in front of Whitehall Garda Station on the corner of Griffith Avenue and the Drumcondra Road! Both Pat and Dougie comment on the quality of their own team. All good players with no passengers. And a blend of youth and experience including the three Smith brothers Alec, Doc and Roy Smith.
Malahide thirds also won the Intermediate League in the same year thus completing a memorable double. They only lost one match in the whole season and that was to the same Merrion team the following weekend after the Final!
*Newspapers Reports printed with kind permission of The Irish Times
Brian Gilmore 2025
