For whom the bell tolls
For those whose clubs are not directly involved, the last couple of rounds of the Russell Court leagues [D1/D2] can be quite relaxing. One notes the frenzied calculations as clubs plots pathways to success and away from failure. It is enough to check in the following day to see how the results have changed the league tables. And one can follow the scores on the Match Centre with a certain detachment and equanimity. How different the fate in store for the loyal club supporter whose team is still fighting for survival or league honours.
This year, due to the late season stumble by Clontarf [D1] and a run of good results from Malahide [D2], there is still everything to play for and in a whole hosts of games the outcomes really matter.
Clontarf, who take on YMCA in Castle Avenue, remain in poll position. Their fate is still in their own hands. But unless Cork can pull off the surprise of the season in beating The Hills in the Mardyke, they know that a final round showdown between the two clubs [Clontarf and The Hills] is in the offing. Points matter and Clontarf will be keen to ensure that they at least maintain their current lead of 21 points.
With a game in hand, Leinster are waiting in the wings in case the leaders falter and even YMCA, if they were to win today, could make an outside run at the title if other results fell their way.
In the meantime the battle to avoid the play-off relegation spot is also hotting up and, in theory at least, could drag in half the teams in the league. Those most directly involved are Pembroke and Phoenix, with the latter being in clear and present danger of having to take on Malahide to stay in D1. Today they travel to Leinster in what, for different reasons, will be an absolutely critical match for both sides. In the final game North County [who have never been relegated from D1] take on Pembroke. North County cannot fully relax [two losses and a special mix of results elsewhere could prove embarrassing] but for the moment they look to a mid-table finish. Pembroke, who look to be missing a few key players today, have a tough end to the season away to North County today and YMCA next week.
The final team taking the field today is Cork. They cannot do anything at this stage to rescue their season - but they can become a spoiler if they could nip a result in one of their last two games.
Meanwhile in RCD2 Merrion have sown up the title even before today’s game v Malahide. But they are still playing for a clean-sheet in what is their last league game this season. I expect that most of the other teams in the league will be glad enough to see the back of them. For Malahide, of course, there is everything still to play for. A win today would mean that they have a chance for promotion through a play-off. But they may well be targeting their final game at home to Balbriggan to get the necessary points to overtake Dublin University. The other games in RCD2 see Balbriggan take on North Kildare and Railway Union v Terenure [College Park].
The teams due to take the field today are:
North County: E.Richardson, J.Grassi [W], N.McGovern, T.Sheil, J.Andrews, N.Rooney, A.Sheridan, T.Richardson, C.Sheil, C.Mulvaney, A.Gugale.
Cork County: C. Hassett [C/W], R. Duggan, G. King, S. Grobler , M. Bauer, S. Wattoo, K. Bray, A. O'Reilly, S. Joshi
P. Barlow, M. Reed.
Phoenix: Nicolaas Pretorius [C/W], Reinhardt Strydom, Richie Lawrence, Rory Anders, Adam Chester, Ari Karvelas, Tom Anders, Matt Scott, Ben White, Ian Anders, Gordy Millar
Pembroke:Lawson P [C], Cutler N, Garth JJ, Garth K, Gupta S, Hoey B, Hopkins R, Lawson T, Tucker D, Tucker F, Tucker L
Malahide: A Reynolds [C], J Newland, M Hingston, P Chase, K Reynolds, C Riches, S Davey, D O'Shea, D O'Halloran, A Muntha, F McAllister
Merrion: D Joyce [C], T Stanton, B Lakholia, S Stanton, P Tice [W], V Dhiman, M Lewis, J Anderson, JJ Walsh, T Kane, J Brown.
North Kildare: Neil Vorster [C], Sean Dalton, Josh Uddin (W), Manjeet Singh, Tom Satchwell, Robert Neavyn, Tehseen Hashmi, Imran Ul-Haq, Wasif Ali, Ian Walshe, Matthew Bond.
The Hills: Max Sorensen [C], Mark Donegan [W], Cormac McLoughlin-Gavin, Sean Terry, Hamid Shah, Albert Van der Merwe, Ryan Cartwright, Tomás Rooney Murphy, Naseer Shoukat, Yaqoob Ali, Luke Clinton
Leinster: G.Delany, G Dockrell, H. MacDonnell, D. Coad, I. O’Herlihy [W], J. Carroll, C. Janik, C. Mallon, B. Azhar, J. Brown, F O’Sullivan - with J P O’Dwyer in for Janik on Sunday v YMCA
Clontarf: Joe Morrissey [C], Sameer Dutt, Declan Gallagher, Ropu Islam, Waqar Azmat, Bill Coghlan, Robert Forrest, John Mooney, Brad Barnes [W], David Delany, Andrew Poynter.
YMCA:J Tector [C], T Fisher, O Gunning, H Tector, S Murphy, B Gamble, J Parkinson, A Blair White, A Abassi, P Flanagan, A Shukla