Although three of the substitutes played very well, they did not do well enough to prevent Scotland achieving a narrow victory. Ireland required 183 to win on the third afternoon. Five wickets fell for 67 but then Donnelly and Bateman, both substitutes, added 91 in 70 minutes. Donnelly ran himself out at 158 and Nichol went through "the tail" to give his side victory. The first day's weather was fine but the attendance was small. Early on the wicket was slow but it's pace increased as the day wore on. The advantage at the end lay with Ireland who had scored 176-3 in reply to Scotland's 224. Sorrie and Gardiner opened for Scotland to the bowling of Ward and Lambert. 39 runs came in 35 minutes and then Lambert bowled Gardiner for 12. John Kerr came in and the runs came very quickly. The second 50 came in only 20 minutes, bringing up 100 in 70 minutes. Shaw was given a bowl and he bowled Sorrie with his first ball. He had scored 54 in 78 minutes. Kerr was next out after a very brisk 28. Dickson, the captain, and Stuart were now together and 150 was put up in 110 minutes. Lambert bowled Stuart for 17, the stand having produced 45. Meldon, the sixth bowler tried, bowled Grieve for one and 5 were now out for 185. Dickson was hitting very hard and he reached 50 in only 55 minutes. The 200 came up in 135 minutes but at 203 Meldon bowled Dickson for 59, scored in 65 minutes. Early on Dickson had been given out caught at the wicket but Milling, the Irish captain and wicket-keeper, recalled him. Ward and Meldon now got the upper hand and the innings closed for 224. Meldon, in six overs, took 4-22.

Ireland had 135 minutes batting and began with Hone and Quinlan. Quinlan collided with the wicket-keeper and had to be removed with concussion. He took no further part in the match. Hone was caught off Nichol at 19 and then Meldon and Lambert added 31 before Meldon was caught by Paton at deep cover for a lively 24. Lambert was not as enterprising as usual and his first 20 took half an hour. Shaw scored much quicker and 100 appeared in even time. Lambert suddenly sprung to life and hit Grieve for four successive fours and followed by hitting Nichol for three fours. He reached 50 in 100 minutes and five minutes later 150 was up. At 164 Stuart, at mid-off, made a wonderful low catch to dismiss Lambert for 68. He had batted for 105 minutes and scored 13 fours. Early in his innings there was a repetition of the Dickson incident. Umpire Keenan gave Lambert out but Dickson recalled him. The Lambert/Shaw stand had added 114 in 70 minutes. Shaw, who was playing dashing cricket, and Donnelly played out time. At close of play Ireland were 176-3, with Shaw 54 and Donnelly 6. The Scottish fielding had been good but the bowling was not very difficult.

Ireland failed to drive home her overnight advantage and only led by 25 on first innings. By the end of the second day Scotland had a lead of 171 with four wickets to fall. At 4 p.m. the Lord Lieutenant and Lady Aberdeen arrived to watch the cricket. Shaw and Donnelly resumed but Donnelly was caught off the first ball of Watt's over. Shaw added 11 to his 54 and then he, too, fell to Watt after an admirable innings which had lasted 110 minutes and contained 10 fours. Hits through the covers and cuts behind point were his forte. Bateman hit up 34 quickly, most by strokes to leg, but 1¼ hours after resuming the innings closed for 249, scored in 3½ hours in all. Paton took three of the last four wickets and Milling was run out.

Sorrie and Grieve opened Scotland's second innings. This time Meldon opened the bowling and he got Sorrie at 13 and Grieve at 18. At 35 Dickson was lbw to Kelly. The 50 took 75 minutes and Kelly bowled Stuart at 51. Gardiner now came in and 20 minutes later he was out for 0, finely held by Rooney at square leg off Meldon. 78-5. Kerr and Paterson were now together and they stemmed the tide and pulled the innings around. Kerr batted slowly and steadily and reached 50 in 2½ hours. Subsequently the pace improved and in all the pair added 99 in 100 minutes before Paterson was lbw to Lambert for 49. This had been the match winning partnership. Kerr, 74, and Watt, 14, played out time when the score was 196-6. Kerr had been in for three hours 40 minutes for his 74 and Scotland owed the saving and eventual winning of the game to him. The fielding was very good on both sides and Shaw's fine running saved many boundaries.

The keen finish expected did, in fact, materialise and Scotland scraped home by 11 runs. Credit must go to Kerr for his steady batting on the second day and to Nichol for his splendid bowling in the closing stages. Quinlan's loss was a big blow to Ireland. Mr James Smyth, the secretary of the Leinster Cricket Union, made the game a great success and received a presentation from the Scottish players. Meldon and Ward took Scotland's remaining four wickets for only 11 runs and Kerr did not add to his 74. Meldon had match figures of 9-75. From the outset of their second innings the game went against the Irish. At lunch, Rooney, Lambert, Hone and Meldon were out for 64, Nichol had taken three of these wickets. Immediately after lunch Nichol bowled Shaw for seven. 67-5-7. Then came the Donnelly-Bateman stand for the sixth wicket. Both hit very hard and as the score mounted it seemed as if Ireland must win. The 100 appeared 110-120-130-140-150 and only 183 were required. Donnelly reached 50 in an hour, but tragedy struck at 158 when Donnelly ran himself out. He had scored 59 and with Bateman had added 91 in only 70 minutes. 25 were now required but they were not forthcoming. Bateman left almost at once and Nichol took three of the last four wickets to finish with 7-64. Scotland only bowled 43 overs in Ireland's second innings so runs were coming at four an over.

Of the eight of this Irish team who never played international cricket again after the war, the most notable was GWF Kelly, the Oxford Blue and giant fast bowler. He had first played in 1895 and this was his 19th game. He took 53 wickets for 788 runs with an average of 14.86.

Derek Scott