WOMEN’S DIVISION ONE PREVIEW – ROUND 13 (AUGUST 22ND)

This evening sees the penultimate round of fixtures in Women’s Division One taking place, with four fixtures including the Champions Pembroke’s first home game since securing this season’s title, as they host Merrion, whilst the big game at the bottom of the table comes in The Village, where Malahide play host to Balbriggan, with the away side one of two teams with three fixtures remaining in the next seven days. In the Park, Phoenix will seek victory over The Hills to pull themselves away from the relegation zone, whilst finally, in Castle Avenue, Leinster will visit aiming for a fourth consecutive victory to also aid their battle against relegation.

CLONTARF VS LEINSTER

Whilst it’s not quite as tight at the bottom as it was before last weekend’s fixtures, Leinster will be seeking to continue their red-hot form against Clontarf this evening, with one more victory putting them all but safe having at one stage looked to be heavy favourites to finish at the foot of the table. Their upturn in form has been no fluke and also coincided with last week’s return for Sophie MacMahon at the top of the order, as well as a return to form for their Australian all-rounder Clare Webber, who has been in the runs and wickets in their last three wins. That pair are likely to once again prove crucial with the bat for the away side. Their stand-in skipper Jenny Sparrow is another player who could prove vital with the bat, whilst a return for either of Ava Canning or Joanna Loughran from Ireland duty for this fixture would be another massive boost. With the ball, last week saw excellent performances from Sparrow, Webber, Orla Bagnall and Aisling O’Kelly, and if all four feature in the attack once again they could prove to be a tough proposition for Clontarf to deal with.

The home side meanwhile are without Una Raymond-Hoey after the injury which she picked up on international duty, however they do have Christina Coulter-Reilly in their side once again, with her return behind the stumps allowing Robyn Searle to be a bowling option yet again. They are without Freya Sargent who has been ever-present for Ireland against Sri Lanka, meaning their bowling options are led by the skipper Emma Butler, and middle-order all-rounders in the shape of Lucy Barry and Julie McNally. Genevieve Morrissey and Alyssa Pasley are two other seam-bowling options which Butler could potentially look to use during their fielding innings, along with Alice Walsh who has also bowled some good spells this season. With the bat, Coulter-Reilly and Searle at the top of the order will be key to the cause, whilst Morrissey could feature at number three in a batting line-up that will be reliant on their top three to get them off to a good start.

Clare Webber has bowled well in recent weeks for Leinster, and a breakthrough for her with the new ball could once again prove to be crucial to the chances of the side. If Leinster can claim the early wicket of Christina Coulter-Reilly, it could set them up for a fourth win on the spin.

KEY BATTLE: Christina Coulter-Reilly vs Clare Webber

PHOENIX VS THE HILLS

Two sides likely to be heavily affected by the absence of Irish internationals face off, with Phoenix needing to find a win to pull themselves away from the danger of the drop. Their batting will need the likes of Nevedha Saravanarajan and Zara Craig to fire, whilst last week’s efforts also saw a decent score from Ali Black who batted at the top of the order. If Siúin Woods returns, it would be a big boost to the team, whilst the return of Arisha Foysal from Ireland U15 duty gives them another option who could bat in the top six, alongside the McDonough sisters, Lucy & Sophie, who both played more prominent roles in their fixture in Rathmines last week. With the ball, Craig will lead the way with the new ball, whilst each of Black, Foysal and Sophie McDonough will be further options, with the potential for some of their younger seamers including Juliet Gargan and Rhea Nair to feature at the bowling crease.

The Hills meanwhile may be without both Maguire sisters for this game, however they do seem set to welcome Abbi Harrison to the side for the first time this season, which could see her featuring behind the stumps. She would add to a very strong top-order, including Tahlia Dunne and Lara McBride at the top of the order, whilst Rebecca Gough & Cliodhna O’Reardon will feature after that trio. Their bowling is the area which suffers more so if they are without their skipper and left-arm spinner, however McBride’s off-spin provides a strong option, whilst Gough, Chloe Ericson and Tara O’Brien will all provide good seam bowling abilities to the side should they be called upon.

Tahlia Dunne is the key batter for the away side in this fixture, and if she can get the side off to a good start, it could prove crucial. In the absence of some frontline bowlers, it’s likely Arisha Foysal will feature in the Phoenix attack quite early, and she could well be the bowler that needs to produce the goods to dismiss Dunne.

KEY BATTLE: Arisha Foysal vs Tahlia Dunne

MALAHIDE VS BALBRIGGAN

Malahide are once again without their big two this week, with Amy Hunter and Arlene Kelly unavailable due to international commitments. However aside from that pair, they return to near full strength, with their batting to be led by Christelle van der Schyff, Sarah Condron, Lana Ryan and skipper Anna Kerrison in the top order, whilst the middle order will likely feature wicket-keeper Gemma Devally and all-rounder Haley Moore, they will however need that line-up to be firing on all cylinders to get them to a competitive batting effort. With the ball, van der Schyff, Condron, Ryan and Kerrison are all options who provide some really good control, whilst Moore also bowled well in last week’s fixture against Merrion. Maria O’Halloran and Sarah Brophy are two others who could feature in the attack as Kerrison appears to have plenty of options to turn to if needed.

Balbriggan meanwhile are also quite close to full strength, having seen Anna Gaging’s season cut short by her return to New Zealand, however their bowling attack remains strong. Led by skipper Claudia Green and Reena Devi, they produce good control at the start of the innings which can allow them to get a foothold with the ball. Lara Maritz, Erin Bond and Erin Knight are another three accurate seam-bowling options for the skipper to throw the ball to, whilst finally Alexandra Atkinson has also produced some strong spells. With the bat, the Maritz sisters have been shuffling up and down the order in recent weeks to varying degrees of success, and that pair along with Green are likely to be the key trio in terms of allowing the side to put together a strong effort whether batting first, or chasing a target.

Malahide’s batting really centres around the talents of Christelle van der Schyff, and the key point in this game is more than likely set to occur when she lines up against Claudia Green with the new ball for the away side, if Green can dismiss the South African, it will put Balbriggan right into the game.

KEY BATTLE: Christelle van der Schyff vs Claudia Green

PEMBROKE VS MERRION

Pembroke’s in form side is without Sarah Forbes, Lou Lou Little and Orla Prendergast for this tie, however does still boast an extremely competitive line-up, with their strong batting unit including skipper Shauna Kavanagh and coach Clare Shillington, however it’s likely that in this tie, there could well be opportunities higher up the order given to Eimear Mullen, who started the week off with a brace of unbeaten 80s for Pembroke 2, and Isobel Jennings who has regularly deputised at the top of the order when the side has been missing their regular openers this season. With the ball, the side has been extremely consistent this season, and will look to it’s up and coming bowling attack to restrict Merrion as best possible. The seamers will be led by KimLi McDonald, who is supported by Anna Beale and Mhairi Nicoll, whilst Lainey Martin could also feature in support of that trio. Forbes’ absence will mean Zoe Bell is set to once again be the frontline spinner in the side, and her performances so far this season would indicate that she will be more than up to that task.

Merrion meanwhile also suffer a plight of unavailability this week, with Leah Paul & Rebecca Stokell both missing, whilst regular skipper Celeste Raack doesn’t feature, nor do either top order batter Annabel Squires, or regular keeper Ally Boucher. They do still however maintain a decent level of firepower with the bat, Elena Neill, Isobel Joyce and Aoife Brennan having all been in good form of late, whilst they may look to Niamh MacNulty to push up the order in the absence of some of their top order players. With the ball, their seam trio of MacNulty, Síbha Bhoja and Maddie Blazely are reunited having not taken the field together for a couple of weeks, with the absence of both Bhoja and Blazely last week seeing Isobel Joyce bowling her first spell of the season to great effect. Julianne Morrissey, Aoife Brennan and Isabel Light are the other options which are more likely to be used this time around, as Merrion seek to be the first side to defeat Pembroke in the league this season.

Pembroke’s batting line-up could well need to centre around Shauna Kavanagh in the middle order this time around, and if she can get on top of Merrion’s spinner Julianne Morrissey, it could prove to be the key to the batting efforts of the home team.

KEY BATTLE: Shauna Kavanagh vs Julianne Morrissey

WOMEN’S DIVISION ONE

ROUND 13 – AUGUST 22^ND

ALL 5:45PM STARTS

At Castle Avenue, Clontarf vs Leinster

At Phoenix Park, Phoenix vs The Hills

At The Village, Malahide vs Balbriggan

At Sydney Parade, Pembroke vs Merrion