Railway captain Peter Le Roux won the toss and elected to bat with Abdullah Nawabzai and Conor Walden opening and got the guys off to a rapid start before Abdullah skied a fairly high full toss.
Peter le Roux came in at three and the positive momentum continued and if the lads were not finding the boundary their positive running was to the fore. Conor fell to a fantastic catch on the boundary for 30 runs and Jonny Woods came in at No 4 and with a quick fire 30 increased the tempo with Railway going at 10 an over. A wicket for The Hills stalled Railway’s progress and whilst Peter Le Roux continue to accumulate and reached his half century (57) they struggled to find another good partnership in the final five overs but posted a very respectable 175 as The Hills fought back well.

The early part of the match was disrupted by an on field collision between Jaagrat and Jonny Woods as both went for a catch with the match paused as both players received medical attention and then both had to leave the pitch. 12th man Patrick Woods from the u13s replaced his brother and the newly recruited 13th man James Hiles from the u11s were now into action as sub fielders.

The Hills took the initiative and punished wayward deliveries showing their own positive intent between the wickets with Clinton and Mohammed took the score to 74 after 9 overs before Le Roux took a good catch off Hasler and then a couple of overs later the impressive left hander Hayden Clinton was out to a fine Ted Hasler catch running in off the bowling off Marius Pienaar for 39 runs. Three wickets for Pienaar returning after his opening spell combined with a brace each from Le Roux and Hasler restricted The Hills to 147 in their 20 overs and even without the bowling effort of Jonny Woods who was not able to return to the field of play the lads saw the match home winning by 28 runs.

A well contested final played with very good sportspersonship from both sides was a credit to both teams, their clubs and their parents. Railway progress to the All Ireland playoffs at u17 level and will welcome back Rob O’Brien not available today due to representative commitments.

Cup final pictures from Deryck Vincent
https://www.flickr.com/photos/picturesofsport/sets/72177720319423375/