The matches in the 3rd Round of the Russell Court Division 2 League [all start at 13.00] are:
North Kildare v Malahide
Terenure v Dublin University
Balbriggan v Rush
Merrion v Railway Union
Before the start of the league the match pencilled in for special attention in the first half of the season was that between Merrion and Railway Union. This is probably still the case but more because of recent history than the current form of the two teams. Over the past two seasons Railway have won 3/4 critical encounters with their close neighbours. Two wins last season bundled Merrion into relegation and the previous year a critical loss at the end of the year may have cost Merrion the title. So nothing can be taken for granted about this fixture. At the same time the fortunes of the two clubs this seasons have been very different. Merrion has reversed the decline in league form from last year and have put in three strong performances already.
Railway, on the other hand suffered a bad loss against North Kildare on the first weekend and lost again to Malahide. There may have been some comfort in the manner of their defeat in the ISC where they were in with a good chance of victory before falling short in a DLS restricted match. But they need to get their season back of track. The recent history between the two teams may give them some hope but the absence of their talisman Kenny Carroll is a blow.
Merrion have two players unavailable [Michael Lewis and Rory Allwright] from their big win over Trinity but the team will not be weakened by the return of Patrick Tice and of all-rounder Bhavesh Lakhotia following exams.
Merrion: Dom Joyce [C], Tom Stanton, John Anderson, Jamie Brown, Sean Stanton, Tyrone Kane, Max Neville, Patrick Tice [W], Bhavesh Lakhotia, Vikas Dhiman, John Blakeney.
Railway Union: Abdullah Hafeez, Rachit Gaur, Alex Stiles, Robin Russell, Ranil Dhammika, Mo Tariq, Ciaran Divney, Saad Ullah, Hanan Maan, Hamza Maan, Eoghan Connolly
Close rivals Balbriggan and Rush will battle it out at the Jack Harper Memorial grounds. Balbriggan have had a lot of changes in their team from last year and the side is only now beginning to bed down. Their excellent win v Drummond in the ISC should provide them with the platform for improved performances in the league. For Rush this is the sort of match that will determine whether they are able to push on and challenge for promotion this year. Losing to Merrion in the first round of the league will not have dented their ambitions. A 10 run win v Terenure may have been a little close for comfort, but the win is what matters. And of course they provided a a spirited performance in accounting for Ballyspallen in the National Cup. But it is against rivals like Balbriggan that they have to prove more consistent than in past years.
Rush are missing Dean Brogan [exams] but Sean Monks returns after his. Alex Neary is unavailable so Nathan McGuire [younger brother of Aaron] makes his senior debut.
Rush: Lynal Jansen [C], Neil Rock [W], Saadat (Tipu) Gull, Sean Monks, Shahid Iqbal, Stephen Doheny, Allan Eastwood, Daniel Coffey, Aaron McGuire, Jack McGee, Nathan McGuire, 12th: Daniel Thorne
Balbriggan: Duane Harper [C], Adrian Harper, Ehtesham Ahmed, Connor Fletcher, Adam Keefe, Trent McGrath, Mudassar Aziz, Cian Nulty, Kashif Ali, Farooq Nasr, Abdul Samad
Any match involving Trinity and the double points that come with it will always be important. Trinity started the year with two good wins but came badly unstuck last weekend against Merrion. They will be keen to get back to winning ways against Terenure. Their bowling under performed in their last match though it was in part down to some poor fielding. With George Dockrell absent from their lineup on international duty, they cannot afford to let chances go awry in the field again today.
For Terenure the results in the league have been disappointing. A win in the National Cup will have boosted confidence and they know that a win against the students will provide real impetus to their season. They have been competitive in their first two matches so will be hopeful of securing the win at home and the double points.
Terenure Conor Mullen [C], Ajaz Shah, Diarmuid Lynch, Dónal Lynch, Kenny McDonald, Michael Cotter [W], Mitul Galav, Mohammad Arshad, Malik Waqar Hussain, Subby Ramnathpur, Yasir Cheema.
Trinity: Will von Behr [C], Isobel Joyce, Josh Dascombe, Lorcan Tucker [W], Jack Kerrison, Matthew Strong, Michael Hogan, Ian MacKenzie, Conor Hoey, Niall Hunt, Mohit Sane.
Malahide are the second team in the league with no defeats. While they will miss Peter Chase from their attack, they have more depth to their team this year and will be confident of defeating North Kildare. Of course last year North Kildare surprised Malahide at The Maws so nothing will be taken for granted. Malahide bring in Michael Hingston and Neil Boyne.
North Kildare, especially at home, have proved difficult opponents over the past 12 months and will be looking to spring another surprise.
North Kildare: Neil Vorster [C], Sean Dalton, Josh Uddin, Manjeet Singh, Mathew Auret, Imran Ul-Haq, Robert Neavyn, Monty Singh, Clint Auret, Ian Walshe, Wasif Ali.
Malahide: A Reynolds [C], J Newland, F McAllister, N Boyne, A Muntha, D O'Shea, S Davey, M Hingston, N Turner, D O'Halloran, SJ De Klerk.