As we rapidly approach the end of the season with only two rounds [and a few refixes] to play there is still a lot at stake. For Clontarf, the leaders of D1, all could be decided today if they can secure a win on the road against North County.
In D2 a win for Leinster in Malahide does not guarantee them the league title and promotion but they would certainly have one hand on the trophy and could only be overtaken by Cork. If Leinster lose then Balbriggan and Cork County remain in the hunt. The first obstacle for Cork today is their match in North Kildare. Having secured 24 points yesterday against Terenure another big win today would move them ahead of Balbriggan [who are not in action due to Rush being in the National Cup final].
This would mean that Cork and Balbriggan go into the final weekend with two matches to play including a head to head. Cork are due to take on Leinster in Togher in a T20 refix on Monday. If Cork win then the battle for the title could go into the final weekend. if they lose then next Saturday’s game when Cork entertain Balbriggan will still be vital for determining second spot. Of course if Balbriggan beat Cork they may still need a win [and will certainly need bonus points] to overtake DU [Cork may also need those extra points]. So another exciting end to the season - with of course the prospect of a play off for promotion for whoever comes second.
The next issue to be decided this season is who will be relegated from D1. As things stand the two bottom teams are Railway Union and Merrion. Each team has three matches yet to play [including one against each other]. This means that Phoenix are still not out of danger and could be caught by either team. The most likely scenario, however, is that the final relegation placings, with the crucial distinction being between a play-off spot [7th] and automatic relegation [8th], will be between Railway and Merrion.
The pressure on relegation in D2 may be less intense on the basis that over the past two years D3 sides have declined the promotion. Of course this may not happen at the end of this season. Four teams in the league [five if you count DU’s double pointers] have four wins each. Any of Malahide, Terenure, Rush or North Kildare could send up in the bottom two placings. North Kildare are most likely to finish last [with a difficult final game today against Cork]. Everything else is in play. Rush can overtake Malahide [and the two teams meet in the final round] and both [though it would take a number of results to fall in line] could overtake Terenure.
With a lot to play for Railway [v YMCA] and Merrion [v The Hills] will be looking for as many points as possible today. They then meet in their second T20 match of the season in Park Avenue on Tuesday. It is a pity, though something that clubs will likely have to get more used to in the future, that key players at this crucial stage of the tournament are unavailable due to international commitments.
All matches today start at 12.00.
A final mention for the National Cup Final between Laois and Rush in Clontarf. Rush go into the match as favourites but Laois may take some heart from the parallels with the ISC Final where Merrion were similarly underdogs and came into the game off a bad result the previous day. Laois had such an experience yesterday when they were all out for 57 against Merrion II and lost heavily. But perhaps the omens are there for a bounce back.
Match starts at 11.30