IBI CORPORATE FINANCE PREMIER LEAGUE PREVIEW – ROUND 3 (MAY 25TH)

After a two week break for the first round of both the Leinster Senior and All-Ireland Cup competitions to take place, the IBI Corporate Finance Premier League returns this weekend for the third round of fixtures, with the now nearly usual three fixtures occupying six of the seven sides in the league. The new normal means that Phoenix have the weekend off, one game South of the Liffey as Pembroke travel to Rathmines to face Leinster, and two games on the Northside as Merrion travel to Malahide, whilst in Balbriggan, Clontarf are the visitors.

Leinster vs Pembroke

Leinster’s first home fixture of the season at first team level sees them facing arguably the toughest task of the season, as they host Pembroke in Observatory Lane. They have gotten off to a somewhat inauspicious start, as having run up a massive total and good win against Merrion on week one, they have faltered with the bat on both occasions since. Matthew Vercoe-Curtis is as yet to capitalise on a good start to the season with his opening week century followed up with two low scores, his opening partner Bilal Azhar, along with Monil Patel and Joey Carroll are the men who they look to for the bulk of the runs in the batting department to allow them to put up a competitive total. With the ball, Luke Callanan and Jai Moondra are the pair of opening bowlers who bowl with good pace and have produced strong opening spells this season, whilst the change bowlers of Bilal Azhar and Joey Carroll were vital to their week one win against Merrion. Their spin now comes in the form of Saqib Bahadur, who’s off-breaks are generally miserly, whilst also including the ability to take a bundle of wickets in a spell, whilst Tom Johnson’s left-arm spin is likely to be coming into the side to bolster this area of the game.

Pembroke meanwhile are set to name a near ‘full strength’ side this weekend after the good news that Tim Tector’s freak blow to the arm in Wednesday’s rained off IP50 fixture produced no more than some soft tissue damage. That will see him bat at the top of the order alongside JJ Garth, whilst  the formidable looking middle order features Nick Stapleton, Jack Tector and Gavin Hoey. Stapleton and Tim Tector both come into this game off the back of centuries in last weekend’s All-Ireland victory over Coleraine, and it’s a major boost for Pembroke that Stapleton has also shook off a slight niggle which kept him out of Lightning duty this week. Joe Prendergast and Danny Hogan are the two explosive batters in the lower-middle order who will look to either see Pembroke finish their innings with a flourish, or ensure a blemish free run-chase depending on what way the coin falls, Hogan once again takes the gloves this weekend. Byron McDonough makes his first Open Comps appearance for Pembroke alongside fellow winter recruit Mark Berry, with the pair of seamers both likely to cause Leinster trouble with their consistent nature, whilst obviously Captain Stapleton is the main feature in the seam bowling unit, and will be a vital cog in the wheel. Paul Lawson and Gavin Hoey are the spinners, with Hoey coming off the back of another four-wicket haul at IP level on Wednesday he’s sure to be another key component to the bowling attack as his confidence and level of seniority within this side continues to go from strength to strength.

The visitors are one of the strongest club teams in the country and their abilities are built around one of the form batsmen in the country in Tim Tector, he’s likely to come up against a fiery opening spell from Luke Callanan, however if he gets to the other side of that, Pembroke will really fancy their chances of capitalising, both through Tector and their powerful middle order.

KEY BATTLE: Luke Callanan vs Tim Tector

Malahide vs Merrion

Malahide come into this fixture having not yet won a game in the Premier League, however they will no doubt be buoyed by two weekends of cup success, starting off with a facile victory against North Kildare but followed up by an excellent showing last weekend against Lisburn. Jeremy Martins was the star of the show in last weekend’s victory taking 3/34 in 10 overs and then following up with 73 in the chase as they snook over the line by two wickets. In the bowling department, skipper James Newland and Kelvin Donnelly generally share the new ball to decent effect with Martins bowling first change. This weekend however sees them without Mike Frost, meaning they will be relying on Mohit Sane for their left arm off-spin option. With the bat, the pragmatic Cormac McLoughlin-Gavin and explosive Younas Ahmadzai make up something of an odd couple at the top of the order, however when it worked well against North Kildare a couple of weeks ago it did so to devastating effect. Ali Frost is yet to find his full flow with the bat as yet this season and Malahide will be looking to him and Matt Ford to build on what the openers produce and put them into a really strong position in the second half of their innings.

Merrion meanwhile welcome a belated debutant this weekend, as 2023’s Hopkins and Marchant Cup winner Adam Rosslee makes his first appearance of the season. This is obviously a massive boost to a side for whom batting has been somewhat hot or cold through much of the beginning of the season. They have made some simply remarkable starts to games only to be found wanting in the middle to lower order, and will hope that adding Rosslee to the likes of IP openers Swapnil Modgil and Stephen Doheny, and former international John Anderson, will give them something of a link between being able to lay the foundations for their innings, and their finishers in skipper Sam Harbinson and Pete Francis who both thrived last season in situations where they were able to play their natural game with freedom. With the ball, Max Sorensen’s five wicket haul a couple of weeks ago saw him bowl with some brilliance, however the number of extras conceded by the side proved fatal to their Senior Cup campaign and it’s something which he and Mikey O’Reilly will need to be really on the ball with this weekend when attacking Malahide early in the piece. Melvin Devaraj was the star of the show last weekend against Donemana, taking 5/35 including the huge wickets of Buddhika and McBrine. Those three added to Harbinson who is in excellent form with the ball at the moment, along with the spin option of Tom Stanton, offer Merrion a well rounded attack which should be able to exude some serious pressure onto Malahide’s top order as long as the extras column is kept under control.

As mentioned, Merrion have really struggled to link the two sides of their batting together so far this season, in some cases having already made enough runs, but in others to their detriment, Adam Rosslee will be the man aiming to fill that gap this weekend, if he can get the upper hand against Malahide’s spinners, Mohit Sane in particular, it will give the away side a massive chance of really exploding at the back end of their innings.

KEY BATTLE: Mohit Sane vs Adam Rosslee

Balbriggan vs Clontarf

Balbriggan come into this game, the first of what is now a double weekend for them only, having not played since May 4^th. They were the fortunate recipients of the only bye in the first round of the Leinster Senior Cup, before last weekend’s game against Cork County in the Irish Senior Cup was postponed due to weather. Some of their players could therefore be forgiven for a bit of ring-rust at this early stage in the season, however with the likes of Chris de Freitas and Dylan Lues having been involved with the Leinster Lightning, and both acquitting themselves very well, along with Cameron Rowe, Sebastien de Oliveira and Sam Willemse who have been in action with Fingal in the District Series. Those five make up the spine of the Balbriggan team, Rowe and de Freitas leading the way with the bat, whilst Lues is quickly making a name for himself as one of the best spinners in the league. Adding Greg Ford into the mix with the bat, as well as the likes of Kashif Ali with the ball, shows off the depth of experience and talent within this team and although the majority of it remains young, they are sure to continue developing as the season goes on and could well cause Clontarf some problems this weekend.

The away side meanwhile will see an Open Comps debut for overseas man Rahul Dalal, who will take the gloves too in the continued absence of PJ Moor as he nurses his hamstring injury. Dalal will slide into a batting unit which features an in-from skipper in Eoghan Delany, the even solid David Vincent as well as new additions in the Thompson brothers Mitchell and Henry, both of whom have shown their credentials at various stages so far this season. John McNally isn’t in the side this weekend, however the return of David Delany does make up for the teenagers absence, the batting is rounded out by the returning Ethan Marshall, and Yash Bala, both of whom will be keen to impress skipper Delany and stake a claim for a more permanent slot in the side. With the ball, the spin comes from the continuously impressive Cillian McDonnell, who took five wickets in last night’s District Series fixture, with support from the enigmatic Paul Ryan. Reuben Wilson and David Delany lead the way with the new ball, whilst Vincent’s off-breaks will likely be called upon for overs to back up the primary four in the bowling unit.

With Balbriggan having been off the field for three weeks by the time this game gets going tomorrow afternoon, their opening spell with the bat could prove vital, any signs of rustiness will no doubt be fully exposed by Wilson and Delany, both of whom come into this game firing and bowling consistently over the past three weeks. If Cameron Rowe can put the pressure back onto Reuben Wilson, it will give the home side the foothold in the game they need to put Clontarf’s batting line-up under the pump

KEY BATTLE: Cameron Rowe vs Reuben Wilson

IBI CORPORATE FINANCE PREMIER LEAGUE – MATCH DAY THREE

All 12:00pm starts

At Observatory Lane, Leinster vs Pembroke (Featured Game)

At Malahide, Malahide vs Merrion

At Jack Harper Park, Balbriggan vs Clontarf