Cricket: With pressure taking its toll, Railway Union scrambled to their first Irish Senior Cup victory in a thrilling one-wicket win over Rush yesterday.
With the early-autumn light fading fast, it was up to Railway's tail to hit the winning runs through the murk and under the most trying of circumstances.
Beaten in the 2003 and 2005 finals, the Railway faithful feared the worst when, having made an excellent start to their run chase, they crumbled in the middle order. Kenny Carroll and Niall O'Brien put on 83 for the first wicket and everything seemed comfortable; they needed only 207 for victory. But spinner Dan van Zyl made the breakthrough for Rush, removing Carroll, caught and bowled for 36, and 83 for one soon became 110 for five as Railway collapsed.
O'Brien was out lbw to van Zyl for 44, his brother Kevin went the same way to Niall Mullen, and Conor Mullen and Mohammed Tariq didn't last long either.
But at the other end, Murphy stood firm. He past 50 with an exquisite drive off the back foot for three and never really looked in trouble. He brought Railway to within seven runs of victory but just when they had the game in the bag for a second time, there was to be another big turning point.
Needing just seven to win, Murphy was out, bowled by Naseer Shoukat, and Gourav Singh departed almost as soon as he had arrived. Roger Whelan smacked a four over midwicket and there were a couple of singles to bring the scores level before Gary Black was lbw to Niall Mullen (4-32), bringing number 11 James Rogan to the middle.
As both sets of supporters struggled to contain their excitement, Rogan showed no nerves and duly flicked Mullen's next delivery to the fine-leg boundary to complete a hard-fought win for his side.
Earlier in the day, Railway had threatened to run away with the game. At one stage it looked like, batting first, Rush would be rolled over for around 170 or 180 but a wonderful knock by Shahid Iqbal at the death gave Rush a psychological boost at the changeover.
Iqbal came to the crease with the score on 141 for four with only 13 overs left and strolled back to the pavilion, raising his bat, less than an hour later having hit 58 vital runs for his side (43 balls, two fours and four sixes).
But this game will be remembered for the presence of Adrian Murphy in the middle of Railway's reply and the poise of James Rogan with the bat at the very end.
RUSH
B O'Rourke b Tariq 19
F McAllister lbw Singh 36
C Doyle st Rogan b Carroll 13
N Shoukat c and b Singh 0
D van Zyl c Mullen b Tariq 36
S Iqbal not out 58
M Donnelly c Rogan b Whelan 6
A Butterly run out 11
N Mullen not out 7
Extras (8lb, 11w, 1nb) 20
TOTAL (for 7, 50 overs) ... 206
Fall: 55, 59, 59, 109, 130, 141, 161.
DNB: L Metcalfe, K Clarke
Bowling: Whelan 10-1-30-1, Black 6-1-23-0, Singh 10-0-22-2, Tariq 10-0-38-2, K O'Brien 9-0-64-0, Carroll 5-0-21-1.
RAILWAY UNION
K Carroll c and b van Zyl 36
N O'Brien lbw van Zyl 44
K O'Brien lbw Mullen 12
A Murphy b Shoukat 50
C Mullen b Mullen 3
M Tariq b Mullen 3
R Wynne c McAllister b Iqbal 9
G Black lbw Mullen 12
G Singh c McAllister b Shoukat 0
R Whelan not out 4
J Rogan not out 4
Extras (13lb, 20w, 3nb) 36
TOTAL (for 9, 43.2 overs) ... 210
Fall: 83, 98, 102, 110, 110, 138, 200, 200, 206.
Bowling: Shoukat 10-2-29-2, Iqbal 10-2-46-1, van Zyl 10-0-42-2, Metcalfe 3-0-27-0, Mullen 5.2-0-32-4, Donnelly 5-1-21-0.
Railway Union won by one wicket
Man of the match: Adrian Murphy
