North Kildare 1 kept up the pressure on Division 3 leaders Merrion 2 with a narrow four run win on Sunday. They were the visitors to Milverton, where The Hills 2 were desperate for a first win of the season, as they look to close the gap on the safety of 6th place - 61 points away at the start of the match.
North Kildare set a useful 250-7, with most batsmen contributing - Manjeet Singh being the only one to pass 50 with 71 from 88 balls. The Hills innings followed a similar path, but despite most batsmen becoming set, top score was Mark Donegan with 33 - eight scored at least 14. Waseem Akhtar scored 23 from only 11 balls at the end, but North Kildare hung on.
In the other match, Pembroke 2 gained revenge for their Senior 2 Cup defeat in the same venue, with a 7 wicket win in Laois. Despite 55 from Usama Raees and 34* from Nauman Anwar, Laois could only manage 187 from 50 overs. Bill Whaley was th e nost expensive Pembroke bowler in a tidy bowling performance (Harry Balbirnie, Faran Khan and JJ GArth all went for under four an over), but he also took four valuable wickets, finishing with 4-51.
The McDonnell brothers, Stuart and Graham, then put on 110 for the second wicket, as Pembroke won by 7 wickets with 18 overs to spare. The result leaves both sides in mid table.
Highest Batting average in Division 3 - (current qualification - 200 runs)
Qualification for the batting averages moves up to 200 runs, meaning Lewis and Rooney Murphy continue to hold the top spots. Graham McDonnell moves into third place after his 89 for Pembroke 2 vs Laois 1.
| # | Name | Club | Inn | NO | HS | 50 | 100 | Runs | Avg |
| 1 | M Lewis | Merr | 7 | 2 | 106* | 2 | 1 | 356 | 71.20 |
| 2 | Tomas Rooney Murphy | Hills | 3 | - | 100 | 2 | 1 | 211 | 70.33 |
| 3 | G McDonnell | Pemb | 8 | - | 147 | 1 | 1 | 358 | 44.75 |
| 4 | T Satchwell | NK | 7 | 2 | 95* | 2 | - | 213 | 42.60 |
| 5 | M Donegan | Hills | 7 | 1 | 108* | 1 | 1 | 248 | 41.33 |
| 6 | Paul Ryan | NK | 9 | - | 90 | 4 | - | 351 | 39.00 |
| 7 | R Smith | Merr | 6 | - | 75 | 2 | - | 232 | 38.67 |
| 8 | M Ramazan | Laois | 6 | - | 87 | 1 | - | 220 | 36.67 |
| 9 | M Collier | Tarf | 7 | 1 | 58 | 2 | - | 216 | 36.00 |
| 10 | R Neavyn | NK | 9 | - | 46 | - | - | 270 | 30.00 |
| 11 | Manjeet Singh | NK | 9 | - | 71 | 3 | - | 244 | 27.11 |
| 12 | S Mehdi Shah | Phoe | 8 | - | 68 | 2 | - | 214 | 26.75 |
Lowest Bowling average in Division 3 - (Current Qualification - 10 wkts)
A further rising of the qualification level (to 10 wicketes now), means a new leader this week, as Clontarf's Shariful Islam leads with 10 wicketees at 10.40. Bill Whaley's 4 wickets on Saturday keep him in the hunt.
| # | Name | Club | Overs | Maid | RunsA | BBowl | 5I | Econ | SR | Wkt | Avg |
| 1 | Shariful Islam | Tarf | 32 | 4 | 104 | 3-15 | - | 3.18 | 19.60 | 10 | 10.40 |
| 2 | B Whaley | Pemb | 44 | 6 | 180 | 4-13 | - | 4.09 | 17.60 | 15 | 12.00 |
| 3 | M Collier | Tarf | 48 | 3 | 204 | 6-39 | 1 | 4.19 | 18.25 | 16 | 12.75 |
| 4 | F Conaty | Lein | 29 | 2 | 181 | 5-32 | 1 | 6.24 | 13.38 | 13 | 13.92 |
| 5 | A Smit | Laois | 40 | - | 190 | 4-37 | - | 4.75 | 21.82 | 11 | 17.27 |
| 6 | Manjeet Singh | NK | 64 | 12 | 210 | 4-7 | - | 3.28 | 32.00 | 12 | 17.50 |
| 7 | Amir Khan | Laois | 49 | 3 | 181 | 3-14 | - | 3.69 | 29.40 | 10 | 18.10 |
| 8 | H Balbirnie | Pemb | 52 | 8 | 226 | 6-19 | 1 | 4.29 | 26.33 | 12 | 18.83 |
| 9 | N Sharma | Merr | 60 | 6 | 210 | 4-34 | - | 3.45 | 36.50 | 10 | 21.00 |
| 10 | R Ensor | Merr | 50 | 9 | 220 | 4-37 | - | 4.39 | 30.10 | 10 | 22.00 |
| 11 | L Hofmeyr | NK | 47 | 1 | 283 | 5-67 | 1 | 6.00 | 25.73 | 11 | 25.73 |
| 12 | Wasif Ali | NK | 62 | 4 | 297 | 4-26 | - | 4.73 | 34.27 | 11 | 27.00 |
Most Catches by a fielder in Division 3
Bill Whaley took one catch at the weekend, moving him up the group on 5. The Merrion pair of Short and O'Donoghue continue to lead.
| # | Name | Club | Mts | Ct |
| 1 | Jeff Short | Merr | 6 | 7 |
| 2 | C O'Donoghue | Merr | 3 | 6 |
| 3 | B Whaley | Pemb | 8 | 5 |
| 4 | L Prior | Tarf | 7 | 5 |
| 5 | L Hofmeyr | NK | 8 | 5 |
| 6 | J Blakeney | Merr | 7 | 4 |
| 7 | Paul Ryan | NK | 9 | 4 |
| 8 | W Akhtar | Hills | 7 | 4 |
| 9 | W Archer | Hills | 6 | 4 |
Most dismissals by a wicket keeper in Division 3
No major changes in the wicket keeping.
| # | Name | Club | Mts | Ct | St | Dismissals |
| 1 | Richard Forrest | Lein | 6 | 5 | 3 | 8 |
| 2 | A Battan | Tarf | 7 | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| 3 | R Smith | Merr | 6 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| 4 | M Donegan | Hills | 7 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| 5 | M Ramazan | Laois | 6 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| 6 | M Lewis | Merr | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 7 | Danny Hogan | Pemb | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 8 | Robert Forrest | Tarf | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
Leading allrounder in Division 3 - (1 pt for each run, 20 pts for each wkt, ctch or stmp)
North Kildare's Paul Ryan didn't get a chance to bowl at the weekend, but 35 runs kept up the pressure on Mark Collier. Manjeet Singh's 71, as well as a wicket means North Kildare have two in the top three.
| # | Name | Club | Mts | Runs | Wkt | Ct | St | Points |
| 1 | M Collier | Tarf | 7 | 216 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 536 |
| 2 | Paul Ryan | NK | 9 | 351 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 531 |
| 3 | Manjeet Singh | NK | 9 | 244 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 484 |
| 4 | M Lewis | Merr | 8 | 356 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 456 |
| 5 | B Whaley | Pemb | 8 | 129 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 429 |
| 6 | G McDonnell | Pemb | 8 | 358 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 358 |
| 7 | M Donegan | Hills | 7 | 248 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 348 |
| 8 | R Smith | Merr | 6 | 232 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 332 |
| 9 | Richard Forrest | Lein | 6 | 160 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 320 |
| 10 | M Ramazan | Laois | 6 | 220 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 320 |
| 11 | R Neavyn | NK | 9 | 270 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 310 |