A dramatic weekend saw the joint leaders North County and Merrion both lose and open up the competition to the chasing pack. An important victory for YMCA over Pembroke has also changed the balance of power in the relegation zone. Club statisticians will be avidly calculating the different permutations but what is clear is that Railway Union and The Hills are now very much in the hunt for honours and their clash in two weeks time could determinate who wins Division 1. This is not to say that North County are out of it. Two wins and it could still come down to bonus points. Merrion, even if they win their last match, would require a very favourable series of results to have a chance of the title.But before the final weekend each of the title contenders [except Merrion] have to make sure they don't slip up against teams in the bottom half of the table.
With the dramatic wins for YMCA and Phoenix, the relegation battle is just as fraught. Every point will be fought over as Phoenix, Pembroke and YMCA try to avoid being in one of the last two places at the end of the season. Pembroke look like having the most difficult run in but they may be helped by the fact that YMCA and Phoenix have to play each other on the last day. Clontarf look to have a comfortable cushion but they could still be pulled into trouble if they lost their last two matches.
Railway Union 269-7 after 50 overs (G McDonnell 92, K Carroll 22, T Fisher 27, T Johnston 11)
Clontarf 261 all out (B Coghlan 24)
Railway Union beat Clontarf by 8 runs
Merrion 100 all out
Phoenix 102-7
Phoenix beat Merrion by 3 wickets
The Hills 249-9 off 50 overs
North County 226-8 off 50 overs
The Hills beat North County by 23 runs
YMCA 112 all out in 40.1 overs (R Strydom 16, E Ahmed 28, L Cole 31, A Eastwood 5-18)
Pembroke 60 all out (J Hickey 17, R Strydom 6-11)
YMCA beat Pembroke by 52 runs