Although there will remain many leagues to be decided over the next few weeks [including RCD1 if Leinster do not win today], today is the last major collective event of the year. At the top of the tree we have the Irish Senior Cup final in which The Hills take on Waringstown at Bready. In the Russell Court Divisions 1 and 2 today will determine if Leinster can take the title, if there will be a promotion / relegation play-off between the two Divisions, and who will be the D1 participants in any such playoff.
So the matches to look out for :
Apart from the matches in RCD1/RCD2, there are a number of other key matches taking place around the province.
D4:Civil Service v Knockharleylast chance for the home side to get a run going that will move them out of the relegation danger zone. For Knockharley, a win brings the outside chance of a late run for promotion.
D5:Pembroke III v YMCA III, it is probably too much to ask of YMCA to mount a challenge for the title but they still have a chance at promotion.
D6:Two important games with Mullingar [v malahide] and Railway Union III [v Sandyford] breathing down the neck of second place Rush II.
D8:Clontarf IV [1st] play Swords [3rd] in what is one of the most competitive divisions [four teams bunched at the top]. The other two teams Adamstown II and Pembroke IV will be following with interest to see if Swords can drag Clontarf back into the chasing pack.
D10:Top v bottom as Dundalk seek to create some distance over close rival Greystones II. Last chance saloon for Adamstown. In the meantime Greystones II take on Castleknock II. Who will be heading the table at the end of the day.
D11:League decider as Ashbourne [70.74%] take on Merrion VI [71.67%] in the last game for each team this year.
D12:Balbriggan are well out on top of the table and another win should just about seal the title. But it matters for North County IV as well who need a win if they are to have any realistic chance of staying up.
D13:Another late season top of the table clash. In this case all the pressure is on Bagenalstown II who are 7% points behind Halverstown. They [Bagenalstown] just cannot afford to lose if they are to mount a challenge for the title.
D14:Only issue at stake - can AIB [v Gorey] get through the season unbeaten. One more game after today.
D15:Clash between Merrion VIII and Ringcommons to see who will be in the second last spot [but it is a seven team league].
D16: Clondalkin II [who are away to Adamstown V] have an outside chance of promotion - but they have to win today. Leinster VI, who are above them, will be hoping that Adamstown do them a favour.
Teams as submitted:
Terenure:Conor Mullen (Capt), Diarmuid Lynch, Dónal Lynch, Givon Christian, Jeremy Bray, Kenny McDonald, Michael Cotter, Séamus Lynch, Subby Ramnathpur, Waqar Hussain, Yasir Cheema
Terenure [National Cup - Sunday]:from Conor Mullen (Capt), Colm Morgan, Dónal Lynch, Givon Christian, Jeremy Bray (Wkt), Kenny McDonald, Michael Cotter, Mohammad Arshad, Séamus Lynch, Subby Ramnathpur, Waqar Hussain, Yasir Cheema
North County:E.Richardson [C], J.Grassi [W], N McGovern, A.Coughlan, N.Rooney, A.Sheridan, T.Richardson, C.Sheil, C.Mulvaney, A.Gugale, O.Graham.
Railway U:Kenny Carroll [C], Rachit Gaur, Alex Stiles, Kevin O Brien, Dhram Singh, Mo Tariq, Tyron Kritzinger, Niall Hunt, Eoghan Grehan, Shariq Khan, Paddy Guest
YMCA:J Tector [C], T Fisher, O Gunning, H Tector, S Murphy, B Gamble, J Parkinson, A Blair White, A Abassi, P Flanagan, A Shukla
Pembroke:Lawson P [C], Balbirnie A, Cutler N, Garth JJ, Garth K, Gupta S, Hoey B, Hopkins R, Lawson T,, Tucker F, Tucker L [W]
Rush:Neil Rock (C/W), Saadat (Tipu) Gull, Conor Armstrong, Stephen Doheny, Allan Eastwood, Dean Brogan, Aaron McGuire, Daniel Doffey, Shahid Iqbal, Sean Monks. Alex Neary
Leinster:J.P O’Dwyer [C], G Dockrell, G Delany, B.Azhar, J. Carroll, D. Coad, C. Janik, I.0’Herlihy [W], C.Mallon, J. Brown, H.MacDonnell.
The Hills:Max Sorensen [C], Cormac McLoughlin, Mark Donegan [W], Sean Terry, Hamid Shah, Albert van Der Merwe, Ryan Cartwright, Thomas Murphy, Nazeer Shoukat, Luke Clinton, Yaqoob Ali, 12th Andy Kavanagh
Finally, given the importance of the matches today could I ask the clubs involved [and any spectators] to make sure that there are regular updates of scores. For those who are eScoring could you upload scorecards to the Match Centre but also send a copy to cricketleinster@gmail.com, tweets from the grounds are always welcome [please make sure you have the Match ID] and if anyone wants to send e/mails [to the above address] or text messages [to 087-2780309] that will be fine.