It seems a while since the last full round of league matches in the two top Divisions of the Open Competitions. Since then we have had the first round of the Leinster Cup, a number of ISC replays and the opening salvoes in the Alan Murray T20 competition. Form in the league therefore may not tell us much. There are four matches this weekend, all due to start at 13.00.
Clontarf v Pembroke,
Merrion v YMCA,
Phoenix v The Hills
North County v Railway Union.
Clontarf have won all their outings so far this year with their only blemish being the loss in the ISC to Instonians. They are the form team with skipper Eoghan Delany leading the way with the bat and Alex Cusack with the ball. If one discounts two loses in T20 cricket, Pembroke have also started well this season with victories in both cups and one league win secured. Key to their success has been the performances of their overseas player - Daniel Solway - but he has got good support from David Murphy and Paul Lawson with the ball. However, history is in Clontarf’s favour - having won seven out of the nine encounters against Pembroke in all Leinster competitions in the last five years.
Since Merrion and YMCA have played each other 14 times, the it is currently seven wins each. Having lost their first match this season narrowly to Clontarf, Merrion have not lost [even if one of their wins was the result of a bowl out]. With two of their players on the Slog Sweep ‘team of the week’ [John Anderson and Tom Stanton] and Dom Joyce and Tyrone Kane already with big scores to their name - the batting line-up is looking strong. YMCA have also done well in the cup [winning both opening matches on the field] but have yet to win in the league. There will be a lot of pressure on them this weekend to rectify this. With a strong top order and a varied bowling attack they will be hoping to get the upper hand over Merrion before the teams line out again at the same venue in the second round of the Leinster Senior Cup.
Since coming up from Division II, Phoenix have looked at home in the top division. They already beaten The Hills this year in the Alan Murray T20 as well as St Johnston in the ISC and Railway U in the league [they have a replay in the LSC]. But T20 is not the same as 50 overs and The Hills are two from two in the league. Phoenix came badly unstuck against Merrion and their bowling will need to be more effective this weekend if they are to manage a win. Reinhardt Strydum has been their most effective player and if he can a good start with the bat can cause havoc. But Phoenix need more runs from the middle and lower order. For The Hills Freddie Kookier has made 161* in his only match so far and other than that the batting has done just enough without anyone else aggregating over 100. The wickets have also been spread around with Naseer Shoukat as economical as ever. The Hills have [the recent T20 reverse excepted] enjoyed almost complete dominance over Phoenix in recent years and one has to go back to 2011 for the last Phoenix win in a 50 over game.
Railway are the second team in the league yet to record a victory in the league. But unlike YMCA they have not had too much luck [including losing a bowl out] in other formats. Heavily reliant on Kenny Carroll with the bat - their bowling lacks penetration. North County have already had their fair share of highs and lows this season. Wins in their first league match against YMCA and in the ISC against Ardmore, they then lost badly to Pembroke [L] and again to YMCA [LSC]. The bowling has fared better than the batting and NC have been over reliant on Eddie Richardson for runs. Recent matches between the two sides have North County 7/4 ahead.
There are also some important ties in D2 the outcomes of which may give us the first solid indications of who will be in the mix for promotion at the end of the season. Two matches in particular stand out - Rush v Dublin University in Kenure and Malahide v Balbriggan in Malahide. Dublin University have got a couple of important wins under their belt and if they could turn over Rush it would greatly strengthen their drive for a top order finish. For Rush the loss would be very damaging to their promotion hopes. So far this season they have had two league games - narrowly losing to Cork County and having an equally close win over Terenure. In the second game Malahide need to bounce back from heavy defeats over the past week and demonstrate to their supporters if they have the playing strength to return to D1. They will have a difficult tie against Balbriggan who have a good win against DU already in the bag.
The other two games sees the pre-season favourites Leinster take on Cork County. Leinster have won all their domestic outing this year [they lost to Fox Lodge in the ISC], including against D1 opponents The Hills in the LSC. Cork started the season with a narrow win in the league [and proved their ability at bowl outs] but are still looking a little brittle after dropping down from D1 last season. The last game sees North Kildare, buoyed by their first ever win at this level against Malahide, face a Terenure side that despite some competitive performances has been unable to bring home a victory.
Leinster v Cork
Malahide v Balbriggan
Terenure v North Kildare
Rush v Dublin University
As usual there will be coverage of all matches on the Match Centre during the afternoon.