As we enter the last major weekend of the season there are still seven OC league titles at stake, a half a dozen promotion spots un-filled and several relegation places to be decided. With 13 league matches today and another 12 tomorrow, we should know a lot more by Monday morning. We would ask all Teams to make sure that the results are posted by the end of the day [if you are not a fan of Twitter you can send a text message to 087-2780309]. Given the interest in the outcome of these final matches we would ask players and spectators around the grounds to do everything possible to make sure that scores are being updated. This is especially important for those games that have a direct bearing on titles, promotion or relegation. Finally, don’t forget that the full result / scorecard must be submitted in the normal way. Apart from anything else this is important so that we can start work on the final statistics / averages for the year.
So what should we look out for this weekend. D3 is one of the most interesting leagues with The Hills II, Leinster II and the current leaders Pembroke II all taking a turn at the top over the past month. There are three key games to go - today Malahide II [who are confirmed in relegation zone] take on Pembroke II and The Hills II play Clontarf II. Tomorrow there is the likely league decider, assuming the match is played to a conclusion, between the two top teams Leinster and Pembroke at Rathmines. There is one other matter to be resolved, who occupies the second relegation spot. Clontarf II woke up a few weeks ago to the prospect of D4 competition next season - since then they have won three matches on the trot. They only need to win one of their remaining two games [the second is against Merrion II in Anglesea Rd tomorrow] to be safe. The position is complicated by the fact that Malahide can overtake Clontarf II if they win and Clontarf loss both of their games. Because Merrion III have won D4 and cannot go up it is likely [all of this is subject to final deliberations by the OCC] that there will only be one team going down. In which case YMCA II [currently lying seventh] are safe whatever happens as they have finished their campaign and cannot be overtaken by Malahide.
Everything is decided in D4 but in D5 Clontarf III and Longford are within a single percentage point of each other with one match each to play. These matches have yet to be refixed.
Castleknock have a comfortable lead in D6 with two matches to play. They travel to Mullingar today, which may settle matters. If not their final match is next Sat. v Malahide III. Rush II must hope that Castleknock will slip up in both of their last two games.
Bagenalstown and Wexford are neck and neck in D7 on 64.07% with each having a game to play. Both are playing today [Bagenalsotwn v Laois II and Wexford v North County III] and whoever gets the most points wins. Hopefully we will have regular updates from the two grounds. In fairness to both teams if we are only getting updates from one we will not display them on the Match Centre.
Clontarf IV have won D8 and D9 was settled long ago by DU II. It is very close at the top of D10 and the match today between the two contenders Dundalk and Greystones II will almost certainly decide the title. Greystones have their final game tomorrow.
In D11 Lucan play The Hills IV in their final game and need to win to secure second spot. Ashbourne have already won the title and Merrion VI are waiting in the wings if they [Lucan] falter at the last hurdle.
With a re-fixture required to settle D12, attention focuses on the bottom end of the table where Merrion VII [who still have a few matches to play] take on Leinster V. A win for Merrion and perhaps everyone will call it a day. A loss and the OCC may have to decide on what needs to be re-scheduled.
All title issues settled in D13 / D14 / D15.
In D15 attention is on Mullingar III and Ringcommons II to see who will take the last spot in a seven team league. Mullingar host Merrion VIII today - a win for the home team may require some postponed matches to be played.
And finally, in D16 tomorrow the leaders Bagenalsown III travel to Adamstown V where a win will secure the title. Adamstown V are lying third and have three games in all to play. A win for them would mean the league is still open.