IBI CORPORATE FINANCE PREMIER LEAGUE PREVIEW – MATCH DAY 13 (AUGUST 31ST)

The penultimate round of fixtures in the IBI Corporate Finance Premier League takes place this weekend, with three crucial fixtures, featuring a potential league-ending scenario with the right set of results.

Pembroke host Balbriggan, needing to win to guarantee the title race moves to the final day of the season. Meanwhile in the Phoenix Park, Merrion will be well aware that Pembroke will be waiting to pounce on any potential slip-ups, whilst also knowing that a win could see them crowned champions should Balbriggan pull a result out of the bag. The final fixture takes place in Castle Avenue, where Malahide visit Clontarf, in what happens to be the season-ending fixture for The Village.

CLONTARF VS MALAHIDE

Kicking off in Castle Avenue, whilst it’s unlikely either side can finish higher than fifth in the table, Malahide could secure their position above Clontarf in the final standings with a victory. They welcome their skipper, James Newland back into the side having been absent from last weekend’s defeat against Pembroke, and he’ll partner with Kelvin Donnelly to open the bowling, giving the side two excellent options up top. Jeremy Martins and Andrew Sheridan will provide the support to that pair, whilst their left-arm spinning pair of Mike Frost and Mohit Sane will hope to have slightly more of an opportunity to get into their work than they had in last weekend’s fixture. With the bat, Cormac McLoughlin-Gavin returns to the side and will replace Aaron Doyle, who misses out through injury, and strengthens the top order, as he is likely to slot into an opening slot, alongside Matthew Langan, with Adam Doyle, Younas Ahmadzai, Martins and Timcy Khanduja making up the bulk of the middle order, and whilst the absence of Ali Frost is also likely to be felt, they will hope to give big hitting Sheridan and Sane a chance to finish the innings with a flourish.

Clontarf meanwhile will be hoping for the first of two wins to finish the season, with their sights set on potentially overtaking Phoenix and finishing in fourth place. Their side is once again led by Eoghan Delany, whilst their top order is showing some good form, with both David Vincent and David Delany in the runs in recent weeks. Mitchell Thompson and John McNally will also appear in the top 5, with their all-rounders of Fionn Hand and Ethan Marshall will occupy the lower-middle order slots. The seamers in the side are led by Hand and Reuben Wilson in the absence of David Delany’s bowling abilities, whilst McNally’s medium pacers have developed well this season and he’s a good third option. The spinners in the side once again feature three options for the skipper Delany to turn to, with Vincent and Yash Bala’s off-spinners, whilst their most dangerous bowler for a number of weeks has been Cillian McDonnell. Ben McCarthy continues behind the stumps, having debuted last weekend.

Malahide’s batting disintegrated last weekend, with only Ali Frost putting up any resistance, and with that in mind they’ll be hoping Cormac McLoughlin-Gavin’s return to the top of the order can help solidify their chances. His battle with Reuben Wilson’s new ball spell is likely to be a crucial time in the game, as if Wilson can make an early breakthrough it will put his side right on the front foot.

KEY BATTLE: Reuben Wilson vs Cormac McLoughlin-Gavin

PHOENIX VS MERRION

In the Phoenix Park, we have a replay of the Irish Senior Cup Final, where Merrion will be hoping to have put that result right out of their minds ahead of a potentially league-winning match-up. Merrion’s side features just one change from the team which lost out so narrowly on that day, with Adam Rosslee out and replaced by Sean Stanton. That will see their batting led from the front as usual by Stephen Doheny and Swapnil Modgill, with the pair both having been in excellent league form in recent weeks, whilst John Anderson at number three has made scores of 111 & 62* in his past two outings. Sam Harbinson and Pete Francis are a position higher than when the side is at full strength, whilst numbers 6/7/8 will be filled by Mike Lewis, Jamie Forbes and Sean Stanton, with that trio looking to round out the side’s innings strongly. Their bowling attack remains near unchanged to how it has looked all season, and whilst the loss of Mikey O’Reilly is not ideal, his injury coincided with the return of Francis to the bowling crease. He’s shared the new ball with Max Sorensen, whilst that pair are supported by Melvin Devaraj and the skipper Sam Harbinson. The main spin option in the side is Tom Stanton, who returns having missed last weekend’s game. He’s supported by Swapnil Modgill who’s off-breaks have emerged as a very strong option in recent weeks, progressing nicely as the season has gone along.

Phoenix meanwhile are near to full strength, with a very similar side to last weekend set to turn out once again, the only potential doubt being the availability of Adam Chester, who’s rugby commitments may hamper the end of the cricket season. With the bat, Shane Getkate’s new slot at the top of the order garnered runs last weekend, and the ever-consistent Jack Lalor was once again successful at number three. The side also features Tyrone Kane in the middle order, whilst they have shown their ability to bat all the way down the order with Amish Sidhu and Dev Ranolia bailing the side out after a middle-overs collapse last weekend. With the ball, Kane didn’t feature last weekend, with only Lalor pushing through his seamers, as they spun a web throughout the remainder of the bowling innings. Sidhu and Ranolia have been consistent forces all season, and are backed up by Dockrell’s left-arm spin as well, whilst the leggies of Ben White persist to cause problems no matter the opposition, and he will no doubt be hoping for a repeat of his five-wicket-haul of two weeks ago.

Amish Sidhu has been the main man with the ball for Phoenix all season, and he’s likely to have a real job on his hands this weekend in restricting the seriously in-form John Anderson. If Anderson can get on top of the Phoenix left-armer early on, it could help Merrion continue to march towards the title.

KEY BATTLE: Amish Sidhu vs John Anderson

PEMBROKE VS BALBRIGGAN

An injury-stricken Balbriggan side travel to Sydney Parade for their tie with Pembroke, and will be hoping for big contributions from their regular players left in the side to give them a chance of causing an upset here. With the bat that will see them looking to the likes of Cameron Rowe, Ghanim Dara and Chris de Freitas in the top three, whilst their two all-rounders in Dylan Lues and overseas player Sebastian de Oliveira are likely to feature higher up the order again this weekend. With the ball their attack is certainly weakened, and although Sam Willemse does return, he certainly won’t be fit to bowl his full complement of overs, with the same to be said for Andy Darroch. Lues and de Oliveira will likely need to bowl their full spells for not many runs if they are to remain competitive, whilst De Freitas is also likely to be lacing up his bowling boots once more.

Pembroke meanwhile are near full-strength, missing only Lorcan Tucker & Barry McCarthy from what would be their strongest team which has featured this season. The absence of Tucker means Greg Hollins will continue behind the stumps, whilst their batting unit will be led at the top of the order by Tim Tector and JJ Garth, who moves up from his regular slot at 3, that pair featuring ahead of Harry Tector, Nick Stapleton & Jack Tector. Further still along the line Fiachra Tucker and Gavin Hoey feature, before Hollins eventually rounds out the batting line-up at number 8, and considering how keen Pembroke will be to once again secure full-points, their batting depth could well prove to be absolutely crucial should they get first use of the wicket. With the ball, Byron McDonough & Nick Stapleton have led the way in recent weeks and it will be interesting to see does Olly Riley reprise his new-ball role on his return to the side. Gavin Hoey has bowled excellently this week, taking two four-wicket hauls in three innings in Sydney Parade since last Sunday. Paul Lawson and JJ Garth support Hoey in the spin department, where the home side ought to be well equipped to take advantage of any possible turn in this weekend’s track.

Gavin Hoey’s excellent bowling efforts in the last few days make him the man who Balbriggan absolute must play well this weekend if they are to have a chance of upsetting the apple-cart. It’s likely that the left-hander Chris de Freitas will be the man they turn to in the hope of producing some runs from Hoey’s spell.

KEY BATTLE: Gavin Hoey vs Chris de Freitas

IBI CORPORATE FINANCE PREMIER LEAGUE

MATCH DAY 13 – 31^ST AUGUST

ALL 12 NOON STARTS

At Castle Avenue, Clontarf vs Malahide

At Phoenix Park, Phoenix vs Merrion

At Sydney Parade, Pembroke vs Balbriggan