The first round of the RSA Leinster Senior Cup commences this weekend. There are four matches [a fifth between Clontarf and Phoenix is scheduled for 1st June] between D1 and D2 clubs. The remainder of the teams have a bye and enter at the second round stage. While the 60 over format is something of an anomaly in todays OD structure, it retains a popularity among players who seem to like a change from the standard 50 over fare.
The four games [start time 11.00] are:
Leinster v North County
Pembroke v Terenure
The Hills v Balbriggan
Rush v Railway Union
On current form one would expect North County, The Hills and Railway Union to progress to the next round, although home advantage for Leinster and Rush [and the absence of players on Irish] may provide a glimmer of hope for the underdogs. The Hills, even without Max Sorensen, are a very strong outfit this year and Balbriggan will need a major upset to come out on top.
The tie of the day will certainly be the contest between Pembroke and Terenure. Although Pembroke are in the higher division, Terenure are in good form and have been piling on the runs lately. Pembroke on the other hand have had mixed results with one win out of three. So a tight contest with Pembroke’s all round strength seeking to overcome the greater match winning potential from among the individual players of Terenure. Terenure will also be buoyed by the performances of some of their younger players in this week’s Senior and Junior Cup Finals.
Pembroke
T Lawson (c), R Kelly (wk), J Balbirnie, A Eastwood, R Hopkins, P Lawson, B McCarthy, B McDonald, D Nicol, R Russell and . B Whaley
Terenure
Kenny McDonald (c), Tom Fisher, Dan Van Zyl, Ehtisham Ahmed, Richard Lawrence, Tom Lynch, Benn Hoey, Michael Hogan(wk), Umar Jehangir, James Smith, Ken Brennan
The Hills
N Shaukat [c], L Clinton, N Pretorius, M Baumgart, O Khan, D Calder, Mark Dwyer, Matt Dwyer, J Clinton, J Andrews, C McLoughlin.
Leinster
C Mallon, B Azhar, P Byrne, G Delany, M Jones, J Kerrison, R Kenealy, H MacDonnell, S Morton, J P O’Dwyer, D Lucas
Balbriggan
Barry Archer (c], Mal Byrne, Glenn Russell, Derek Rooney, Adrian Harper, Roger Kear, Nathan Rooney, Albert Harper, Chris McMahon, Paddy Martin and ANOther
All four matches will be convered on the RSA [Live Scores] Match Centre.