On a hot and sunny evening in Sandymount, Merrion were the victors in the Sportshub Women’s Leinster Senior Cup Final beating the homeside Pembroke by 64 runs. That they won by such a comfortable distance was thanks to an outstanding performance by Leah Paul who shone with both bat and ball.

Having won the toss, Merrion chose to bat. Bella Armstrong, on the back of a mountain of runs in the Super 3 series last week got things off to a flyer before Rebecca Stokell mistimed one to Orla Prendergast. Pembroke will rue missed chances, particularly in the early overs of the game but even so by the 8th over with the dismissal of Ally Boucher, Pembroke will have surely felt that they were still in the game at 54 for 3, Armstrong having earlier fallen to Anna Beale for 32.   

At this stage Leah Paul took control of the game. The next wicket fell 132 runs later by which stage Paul had unveiled her full repertoire of sweeps, reverse sweeps, ramps, switch hits and all their brothers and sisters too. Pembroke must have known they were coming but there was little they could do to stop the flow. While she just about fell short of reaching her deserved hundred, her unbeaten 97 was a brilliant effort and gave Pembroke the daunting target of 199 to win.

The chase got off to a great start with some thundering blows from Louise Little. Having stuck 5 fours she hit one back at the bowler who took the catch. The bowler?  Of course it was, Leah Paul was having one of those nights. Three balls later she got rid of Claire Shillington for good measure. Orla Prendergast still posed a big threat, one shot straight back past the bowler was worth the toll money itself but when she missed one from Aoife Hayden, the ball didn’t.

And that was pretty much it, while Sarah Forbes whacked Pembroke’s only six of the night and Shauna Kavanagh fought hard, the batting side were kept under straps by the young Merrion bowlers.  

So Merrion take the spoils and Player of the Match? Easiest job on the night.