The Ladies Firsts have edged (just) into the lead of the league table with a comprehensive win against Clontarf on Thursday night.

Pembroke put Clontarf in to bat on a grassy wicket and made the most of the conditions with consistent and attacking bowling, restricting Clontarf to just 53 all out off 19.4 overs.

Ciara Metcalfe was the star of the night with 4 wickets (4-10) while Sharon Corbett (2-7), Kim Garth (2-15), and Louise McCarthy (2-17) shared the remaining wickets.

Keeper Mary Waldron also put the pressure on, standing up to the stumps against all bowlers, and had a hand in three of the wickets with two catches and a stumping.

Pembroke, with the benefit of knowing what to chase, made the conditions look relatively benign, and caught the total in just 10 overs for 2 wickets.

Emma Flanagan topped scored with 20 not out, Shauna Kavanagh made 13, and Nikki Symmons 10 not out. The next 1s game is Friday 6 August in Pembroke – with little to separate the top teams, every game counts..

An excellent all-round performance from the Pembroke First XI saw them beat Clontarf on Friday night. Fielding first Pembroke restricted Clontarf taking regular wickets through their bowlers and excellent catching by the supporting fielders.
Clontarf lost wickets regularly and their total ended up being a lot less than anticipated. 80 from 20 overs shows the tightness of the Pembroke side. Boundaries were hard to come by as evey ball was hunted down.
In reply the Pembroke openers got the side off to a good start and although a few wickets fell the batsmen continued to accumulate the required runs. The finish line was crossed with overs in hand and this performance will boost the First XI's confidence and morale. 

Kim Garth and Emma Flanagan took Pembroke to a 10 wicket win. The scoring was very even with both girls finishing only a few away from deserved half centuries, but they reached the finishing line almost too quickly.

They had been chasing just over a hundred on account of good bowling and fielding.

A most impressive win and one that bodes well for the rest of the season.

 

Rush away. Friday evening. Rush batted first and accumulated 134 for the loss of one wicket, a catch taken at long on by Nikki Symmons off the bowling of Sharon Corbett. In reply Pembroke reached 125 for one.

Sharon Corbett writes: Overall, it was disappointing not to start the season with a win, but there were a lot of positives for the team. Most impressive was the batting performance. Only one wicket fell in Pembroke's innings of 125. Kim Garth stuck around for the entire Pembroke innings, scoring 64 not out off 59 balls. Emma Flanagan and Shauna Kavanagh both had solid knocks of 19 and 16 not out respectively.

The next game for the Ladies 1's is against Leinster at home on Thursday 27 May.