SPRINT COATINGS DIVISION ONE PREVIEW – ROUND 7 (JULY 11TH)

The round of fixtures which signals the halfway stage in the Sprint Coatings Division One takes place this week, as after a day off last week, another set of four fixtures among the eight teams to be fought out. Pembroke are six from six and sit atop the league, with a gap of essentially three wins back to their next closest challenger in Clontarf.

This week, the league leaders play host to Phoenix in Sydney Parade, whilst the other game on the southside sees Leinster playing host to The Hills. In Clontarf, the Castle Avenue outfit play host to Malahide, who come into the fixture off the back of two wins, whilst in Jack Harper Park, Merrion visit a rejuvenated Balbriggan side.

CLONTARF VS MALAHIDE

Clontarf are the side who sit closest to Pembroke in the league standings at this point in time, and they will be looking to get themselves a bit closer to the summit, but will have to knock this Malahide side out of it’s winning stride to do so. ‘Tarf are skippered by Christina Coulter-Reilly this week in the absence of Emma Butler, however they appear to be close to full strength aside from that. With the bat, Coulter-Reilly and Robyn Searle lead the way from the top of the order, with Freya Sargent and midweek U17 Interpro centurion Julie McNally to follow. Genevieve Morrissey, Gemma Sargent and Anna Marshall round off the batting unit which will be looking to continue on it’s decent form of recent weeks. With the ball, whilst without usual opener Butler, Sinead Thomson’s form with the new ball has been very strong, and they’ll be hoping for that to continue, whilst she’s supported by fellow seamers Lucy Barry, Morrissey and McNally. Freya Sargent is the frontline spinner in the side and has been relentlessly economic this season, with her four overs regularly proving crucial to the side.

Malahide meanwhile are sure to be aiming for a third consecutive league victory, which would put them right on the coattails of this week’s opposition. The return of Amy Hunter to their side last week proved to be the catalyst for a reduced-overs victory over Phoenix, and she bolstered a batting unit which now features much more firepower than it did earlier in the season, including Arlene Kelly, Lana Ryan and Christelle van der Schyff, whilst the skipper Anna Kerrison and Sarah Condron have also added some strong performances in the top 6. With the ball, Kelly’s bowling has proved to be as crucial as anyone would expect an international bowler to be, whilst last time around van der Schyff joined her with the new ball and proved to be an excellent option. Anna Kerrison’s off-spin is always a very strong option for the side, and the attack is rounded out by some more good seam bowling options in the shape of Sarah Brophy, Haley Moore and Saibh Mitchell who all bowled well in their victory over Phoenix last time around.

Clontarf’s run chase last time around centred around an excellent innings by Christina Coulter-Reilly, and the stand-in skipper is likely to be crucial to the side’s batting efforts once again, and her battle with the spin of Anna Kerrison could dictate the tempo of the Clontarf innings.

KEY BATTLE: Christina Coulter Reilly vs Anna Kerrison

PEMBROKE VS PHOENIX

The relentless Pembroke side go into this fixture top of the table, and won every game they’ve played so far this season. Their batting has been to the forefront in general, with six of their seven wins being thanks to excellent run chases, as the likes of Orla Prendergast, Sarah Forbes, Clare Shillington, Shauna Kavanagh and Lou Lou Little form a very formidable batting unit, without even mentioning the likes of Robyn Lewis or upcoming wicket-keeper Isobel Jennings who have both also contributed with the bat to some of their victories. Even when a couple of this unit are missing, the firepower has proved to be more than enough to overpower several sides in their run chases in particular. Their most recent victory was by two runs over The Hills, in the only occasion where they’ve batted first all season, and that saw their bowlers stepping right up to the plate. As well as the usual suspects in Prendergast and Forbes, who both bowled very well, they have been able to throw the ball to Zoe Bell, who has proved an excellent spin option, whilst KimLi McDonald has grown into her role as the second seamer in the team with great efficiency this term, proving to be vital in their win last time out.

Phoenix meanwhile are on something of a recovery mission, having had their momentum halted by a loss to Malahide and the bye week. Previous to that, their powerful batting line-up had seen them chase down scores against Leinster and The Hills. They are set to be without Gaby Lewis this week, which will mean they look to Alice Tector and Siúin Woods to produce some bigger contributions for this time around. Beyond that pair, Nevedha Saravanarajan and Darcey Dalwood are the other players who have provided contributions to the side’s batting efforts earlier in the season. With the ball meanwhile, Tector’s progression this season has seen her become one of the better opening bowlers in the league and move to taking the new ball in Super Series fixtures, as a result her spell has become a very important part of the Phoenix attack. Dalwood and Zara Craig both performed well in the last fixture in the face of a strong Malahide batting effort, and they will need to be on song again for this fixture, whilst skipper Ali Keenan is another good bowling option in the side. Arisha Foysal’s leg-spin is one of the real bright lights for the team so far this season and a good performance for her in this fixture is likely to prove crucial. Their options are rounded out by Alison Black and Saravanarajan, both of whom have also been used this term.

Pembroke’s top order have been the catalyst to all of their big wins so far this season, and they will be hoping to get off to another flying start in this game. Sarah Forbes’ form has been key in this regard and if she makes another good contribution the home side will be set well on their way. Alice Tector’s opening spell to Forbes could prove to be the moment where Phoenix have the chance to attack their hosts, and if she can knock over the ‘Broke opener, it could crack the door open ever so slightly for the visitors.

KEY BATTLE: Sarah Forbes vs Alice Tector

BALBRIGGAN VS MERRION

Balbriggan bounce into this week’s fixtures off the back of two wins in their last three league games, and having started the season poorly will at least carry the confidence they can compete at this level into this fixture. They are however without both Lara and Tess Maritz this week, and after the contribution which that pair made to their victory over Leinster last time around, it leaves a big gap to fill. Claudia Green has been the backbone of the side with both bat and ball this season, and she showed herself to be capable of winning games with her performances when the side claimed their first league win of the season against Phoenix just over a month ago. Anna Gaging is another high quality bowling option who has produced good spells so far this season and they will be looking to her and Green to give the side a chance to restrict Merrion’s powerful batting line-up. Their other bowling options feature Erin Knight and Reena Devi, with Alexandra Atkinson another loss to the attack having starred with 3/11 last time around. With the bat, they are set to once again be looking to Green and Gaging to lead the way, with the pair likely to both be occupying positions in the top three of an extremely inexperienced batting line-up at this level.

Merrion meanwhile come into this game as close to full strength as they may hope to be, with the bat they have Leah Paul and Rebecca Stokell both likely to be back in more familiar roles having been forced down the order last time around. Annabel Squires will be looking to continue her fine form, having not been dismissed as yet this season with two unbeaten half-centuries to her name, whilst the likes of Isobel Joyce and Celeste Raack have been able to produce good performances when needed and add some depth to the line-up, added to that the in-form pair of Maddie Blazely and Aoife Brennan, who were both in the runs for Merrion 2 on Monday evening, and their unit looks like one which could cause Balbriggan an awful lot of issues. With the ball meanwhile, Síbha Bhoja and Niamh MacNulty have been two of the stand-out performers in the league so far this season, with their new ball spells consistently taking wickets and putting Merrion on the front foot. They are supported in the seam department by Blazely who has added depth which they haven’t had for the past couple of seasons, whilst their area of strength really comes from their spinners, where Julianne Morrissey’s skill of picking up big wickets has been coming true again at times this season, whilst Paul’s left-arm spin has also been in good form of late and is generally performing well below the run-rate.

A good start with the bat for Merrion in this fixture could put them into a position of unassailable strength early in the game, so it’s vital Balbriggan start well with the ball, Claudia Green will be hoping to restrict Rebecca Stokell early on, however if Stokell can get Merrion on the front foot they could prove very difficult to peg back.

KEY BATTLE: Claudia Green vs Rebecca Stokell

LEINSTER VS THE HILLS

Our final game of the round features fifth placed The Hills and bottom of the table Leinster, perhaps a sign of how tight the margins are in the league this season that the Rathmines outfit are at the foot of the table, having been a powerhouse for so many seasons. On paper the home side remain a strong outfit, with Irish skipper Laura Delany, Ava Canning and Joanna Loughran all strong performers at this level, whilst Sophie MacMahon has missed the last couple of games through injury leaving a big space to fill with both bat and ball. Overseas player Clare Webber has shown to be a big addition to the side, and has been able to find the boundaries regularly and put the side on the front foot early in their innings which can put them well ahead in the game. The side also features several players who have been playing and performing well at this level for a number of seasons including Jenny Sparrow, Katie Dillon and Isabel Saeed-Maguire, whilst there have also been opportunities for Beth Dimond, Isabella Merriman and Orla Bagnall to perform with the ball.

The Hills on the other hand have seen several of their players who were on the up really step their game up a level this season, with their bowling unit now seeing Jane Maguire complemented by younger sister Aimee and fellow spinner Lara McBride, who have all been in good form, whilst young seamers Tara O’Brien and Chloe Ericson have also began to make an impact in the games in recent weeks. Overseas player Elise Noble offers another strong bowling option and has produced spells which have seen a glut of wickets on more than one occasion this season, making her a real threat with ball in hand. With the bat meanwhile, Tahlia Dunne has been in good form this season, with her contributions early in the piece nearly always giving the side a strong start and base to build from. McBride and Noble are two other clean strikers of the ball who bat at the top of the order, and contributions from one of those three are generally vital to the side in terms of producing a good batting effort. In the middle order, the Maguire sisters are joined by Rebecca Gough and Clíodhna O’Reardon, both of whom have shown the ability to contribute strongly in the past and could prove to be big players in terms of finishing off their innings well.

The Hills’ bowling unit is led brilliantly by Jane Maguire, and her opening spell generally sets the tone for how their innings is going to pan out, if she can dismiss Leinster’s opener Clare Webber early in the innings, it could well give them the foothold they need in the game to keep Leinster’s batting line-up under wraps once again.

KEY BATTLE: Clare Webber vs Jane Maguire

SPRINT COATINGS DIVISION ONE

ROUND 7 – JULY 11^TH ALL 6:00PM STARTS

At Castle Avenue, Clontarf vs Malahide

At Sydney Parade, Pembroke vs Phoenix

At Jack Harper Park, Balbriggan vs Merrion

At Observatory Lane, Leinster vs The Hills