SPRINT COATINGS DIVISION ONE PREVIEW – MATCH DAY 3 (30TH MAY)

After an action-packed first round of the Sprint Coatings Senior Cup took precedent at the top level of our Women’s competitions last Thursday, this week sees Sprint Coatings Division One return to action for the third round of league fixtures.

Only two sides are two from two in the league, with Pembroke and Merrion both having made perfect starts, two nine wicket victories for the Sydney Parade side also seeing them yet to even drop a bonus point, whilst Merrion on the other hand overcame some slightly awkward games due to lack of availability to gain 45 from a possible 50 to this point. Clontarf are also unbeaten, however their last league fixture against Phoenix fell foul of the weather.

This week’s games see Balbriggan playing host to Phoenix, with the other action on the Northside seeing Clontarf host The Hills in Castle Avenue. Merrion make the short trip to Observatory Lane to face Leinster, whilst finally Pembroke play host to Malahide in Sydney Parade.

Balbriggan vs Phoenix

The assignments don’t get any easier for Balbriggan this week, nor does the workload that their key players are subject to in order to make the side competitive in these fixtures. It’s clear to see the quality they possess in Anna Gaging and Claudia Green, however the fact that neither Erin Bond or Mollie Devine has featured for the side as yet this season is clearly hampering the depth with both bat and ball. If that pair start to get on the field for the ‘Brig, it will help them to spread around the workload and ease the pressure to perform on their top players, however if it continues to see them leaning on their Kiwi pair, it could be a long season ahead. Izzy McLean with the bat and behind the stumps, and Reena Devi with the ball are the other players to have made decent contributions to the cause so far this season, and the side will be looking for more players to step up in the same vein.

Phoenix meanwhile are out the other side of a miserable season in 2023, and in spite of just one win so far this season there’s more than enough reason for them to feel as though they will make significant strides this term. Having seen off Clontarf last week in the first round of the cup, thanks mainly to a century from Gaby Lewis, they also put up a fine batting effort in week one, ultimately only seeing themselves collared by a strong Merrion side with two balls to spare. Nevedha Saravanarajan made a half-century that day and with the side now also containing further batting depth with all-rounder Georgina Dempsey and wicket-keeper Siúin Woods, it’s clear to see how the side can play slightly more expansively in the knowledge of having strong players around each other. With the ball, Dempsey and Alice Tector are two excellent seam bowling options, whilst captain Ali Keenan has been a near ever-present for the side since their promotion to Division One back in 2021. Arisha Foysal’s leg-breaks proved to be very effective in week one and in those four they have the spine of a very strong bowling unit.

It's an unrelenting task for Claudia Green in the Balbriggan batting order to compile match winning innings’ however this week could see more emphasis on the Brig’s bowling putting in a good performance, Anna Gaging has shared the new ball with her fellow Kiwi in the two league games so far, and it could well fall on her shoulders in a big opening battle with Georgina Dempsey to see who gets on top early in the Phoenix innings.

KEY BATTLE: Anna Gaging vs Georgina Dempsey

Clontarf vs The Hills

Two sides with contrasting fortunes in last week’s Sprint Coatings Senior Cup first round face off, Clontarf lost out to Phoenix, and clearly missed their leading batter for the past two seasons in Christina Coulter-Reilly at the top of the order in that fixture. If she is back in the side this time around it will be a massive boost to the team. Freya Sargent and Julie McNally both did make runs in that fixture and when Robyn Searle is also added into the mix, there’s plenty of batting depth in the team, however being without the regular mainstay of the unit did clearly hamper their efforts to chase down Phoenix’s mammoth total. With the ball, Sinead Thomson and Emma Butler have been consistent with the new ball, whilst Sargent and McNally also generally offer frontline bowling options, added to several all-rounders including Lucy Barry and Genevieve Morrissey, the team has enough options to cause problems to any opposition they face off against.

The Hills meanwhile have kicked off this season in flying form, and were only denied a perfect start in the league by a masterful knock by Merrion’s Izzy Joyce in their second league game. Their batting sees Tahlia Dunne and Elise Noble both going hard at the ball in the top three, whilst they have now got plenty of other players capable of contributing. Lara McBride has been opening the innings alongside Dunne, whilst the Maguire sisters were the main contributors to last week’s 180 against Balbriggan, Aimee top scoring at number 6 with 41, adding 67 for the fifth wicket with Jane who had come in at number four. As well as the five already mentioned they also have Rebecca Gough and Clíodnha O’Reardon, who have both been vital components in the side with the bat for the past couple of years. With the ball, McBride has been a revelation so far this season, with her 4/1 from 3.2 overs last week being a particularly eye-catching effort. Jane Maguire’s new ball spells are always consistent and challenging, whilst Aimee Maguire’s left-arm spin is generally miserly and pressurises the opposition. Noble has also delivered a couple of good spells so far in spite of not being used until later in the bowling innings.

Clontarf are yet to see Robyn Searle in full flow as yet this term, and she could well be the key to whether they are able to out-gun her former club through the middle overs of this contest. If she can get on top of The Hills’ spinners, Aimee Maguire in particular, it will give them a big chance of beating off The Hills’ batting efforts.

KEY BATTLE: Robyn Searle vs Aimee Maguire

Leinster vs Merrion

One of the most interesting games of the round is the tie in Observatory Lane, Leinster are 1 from 2 in the league this season and go into this fixture needing to ensure they don’t slide out of title contention early in the season. With the potential that they could be two wins behind two teams after this round of fixture being a very real one, it’s vital that they put in a good performance. With the bat they showed some real potential in last week’s cup game to be explosive, however they lost wickets slightly too regularly to post a really big score. Clare Webber made a fine start to the innings last week at the top of the order, and opening partner Rebecca Rolfe is also in good form having made a half century the week before. That pair are followed by a trio of internationals in Laura Delany, Sophie MacMahon and ‘keeper Joanna Loughran, arguably giving Leinster one of the strongest top fives in the league, if a couple of these can put together a partnership early on, it will heap pressure onto Merrion’s bowlers. Each of MacMahon, Delany and Webber offer good medium pace options with the ball, and they are supported by Katie Dillon and Jenny Sparrow. Loughran’s glovework is key to Leinster’s ability to build pressure, as standing up to the stumps to most of their bowling significantly restricts the batters options to attack with.

Merrion meanwhile somewhat came to life last week in opening the defence of their cup, and will be hoping to carry on in that vein again. Their seamers now look to be one of their stronger suits, having been heavily reliant on Niamh MacNulty for the past couple of seasons, Síbha Bhoja’s emergence at the back end of last year along with the addition of Maddie Blazely, now sees them with three options that are all very capable of taking wickets in this league. Their spinners feature Julianne Morrissey and international Leah Paul who both bowled good spells last week, and Morrissey’s knack for taking important wickets has been key to much of the side’s success over the last couple of seasons. With the bat, Rebecca Stokell and Bhoja did most of the heavy lifting in last week’s chase, with Stokell’s fluent unbeaten 45 guiding the team to a comfortable success. The list of players who didn’t bat in that chase include skipper Celeste Raack, Leah Paul, Isobel Joyce and Aoife Brennan, and with that sort of depth in their side it makes for a very tough assignment for any opposition to keep them to a sub-par score. If Merrion’s batting fires in a big way, it will put them in a great position to stay ahead of Leinster for a number of weeks at least.

Leinster’s start last week very nearly got them into a position to outgun Pembroke’s batting line-up, and that’s where Clare Webber’s knock was hugely important. Whilst Merrion don’t rely on her now to the same extent as they have in the past couple of seasons, Niamh MacNulty is still the spearhead of their attack, and if she can knock Webber over early in the piece, it will be one of Leinster’s main boundary hitting threats dealt with, and give the away side a strong start with the ball.

KEY BATTLE: Clare Webber vs Niamh MacNulty

Pembroke vs Malahide

Pembroke moved to three convincing victories out of three with a second success in the space of a  fortnight against Leinster, and they will be aiming to continue their fine progress into the third round of league fixtures. The key so far for the side has been that several different players have contributed to their wins so far. A sample of their performances so far including scores of 43* and 37 for Sarah Forbes, 59 from 17 balls for Orla Prendergast, 5/8 for Lou Lou Little, as well as three-fors for each of Forbes (twice), KimLi McDonald and Zoe Bell. With the bat, the depth that includes Clare Shillington, Shauna Kavanagh & Robyn Lewis, to mention just three of their other internationally capped players, makes them an extremely daunting opposition to face up to. If they are at full strength once again this week, they will be certain to cause Malahide plenty of problems with both bat and ball. The experience in the side has allowed them to begin blooding in younger players to the side, the aforementioned Bell and McDonald being two to take on more responsibility in games, whilst Isobel Jennings has been behind the stumps in two of their three games, if they can continue to produce strong performances whilst getting these younger players involved, they will be well equipped for later in the season where they have international absences to deal with, as well as having an extremely deep batting line-up and bowling unit for these sorts of fixtures.

Malahide meanwhile have gotten off to an extremely slow start this season, not helped in the slightest by the absence of Amy Hunter so far, and Arlene Kelly up until last week’s fixtures. Kelly’s bowling is her main attribute and her return last week saw four extremely solid overs add some depth to that side of things. Hunter’s continued absence however has been a cause for concern with the bat, as their highest score of the season so far was last Thursday’s 90/5 against Merrion and they will be desperate to put together a more competitive effort this time around, albeit they do face an uphill task against a strong Pembroke side. Their three main all-rounders include Sarah Condron, Anna Kerrison and Lana Ryan, who occupied the top three in the batting order last week and look likely to do so until such a point that Hunter returns to the team, in all reality, it will be up to those three plus Kelly to do much of the heavy lifting with the bat, if two of the four all-rounders can produce runs then there will be a chance that Malahide can put it up to their opposition this time around.

Considering how important she has been in two run chases so far for Pembroke, Sarah Forbes could well prove to be the key wicket in the Pembroke batting line-up this time around, and if she can get herself beyond the opening spell of Arlene Kelly, it will set up the home side’s batting line-up to out point their visitors once again this week.

KEY BATTLE: Sarah Forbes vs Arlene Kelly

SPRINT COATINGS DIVISION ONE – MATCH DAY THREE

All Start Times 17:45

At Jack Harper Park, Balbriggan vs Phoenix

At Castle Avenue, Clontarf vs The Hills

At Observatory Lane, Leinster vs Merrion

At Sydney Parade, Pembroke vs Malahide