BORN IN A COMMITTEE ROOM

Old Belvedere and Malahide contested the 1965 Leinster Senior Cup Final in Malahide.  It was the middle of the three-in-a-row Finals between the two teams.  In ’64 the venue was the Cabra Oval and in ’66, the Phoenix Park.

The pitches in the old ground in the Village ran parallel to the Clubhouse since the year dot. But somebody, somewhere came up with the idea of turning the Cup Final pitch around so that the strip was perpendicular to the Clubhouse.

The reason is not clear. One possibility is that the turnaround was to make the ground bigger, lengthways, with a shorter boundary on either side.  

This was the first ever big match hosted in the Village. In those days the Final was the high point of the club season, with a closed date and an entrance charge.

“For some reason we changed the aspect of the wicket around for the Final. The Final wicket ran from the Clubhouse to the [Malahide Castle] Avenue on the far side of the ground, in other words at right angles to its normal position. I think it was a mistake as we conceded much of our home advantage such as run ups etc by making this change” was the late Dougie Goodwin’s thoughts on the matter.  

Dougie was captain of the Malahide XI and spearhead of the bowling attack with fellow international Podge Hughes and seamer Les O’Shea. The trio were a potent combination having won the Senior League the previous year. Malahide played at least one match in the Village prior to the Final using a wicket which ran “t’other way” as it was locally described.

There was another twist to the Final. A Press strike from 2nd July to early September 1965 meant that there were no reports of the game anywhere.  Or photos.  Thankfully, statistician Derek Scott compiled his own handwritten record of the match.

In the end it was a comfortable win for Belvo by 68 runs. The peerless Alec O’Riordan did not seem to be affected by the wicket change and was in devastating form with 7 for 54. Brendan McGrath top scored for the Jesuits with a dogged but invaluable 44. Dougie took 5 wickets but at a cost of 85 runs which was well beyond his normal spartan return.
 
But you just wonder whether a hare-brained idea most likely born in a committee room was a decisive moment in the Final!

No 1965 Malahide team photo available.