Two QFs in the IBI Corporate Finance Leinster Senior Cup serve as the highlights of the day. The pick of these matches is certainly the clash between the two top teams at the moment in D1, Clontarf and Phoenix, in Castle Avenue. Apart from the importance of the game itself - it could prove a useful indicator for the league. At the start of the season Clontarf had a narrow victory of Phoenix - but that was with a number of players missing from both sides. It is probably fair to say that Clontarf have added more players to their teams since the first encounter - and they also have home advantage - so they must suffer the tag of favourites.
In the other game Merrion take on Terenure. A couple of weeks ago this might have looked like a very one-sided affair. But Terenure have strengthened their team [Jeremy Bray, David Langford Smith and Given Christian] in recent weeks and this is reflected in improved results. Notwithstanding this Merrion must still be counted as having the edge and have Tyrone Kane [injury] and Ross Shivmangal [exams] returning to the team.
Terenure: Conor Mullen (C), David Langford-Smith, Diarmuid Lynch , Dónal Lynch, Givon Christian, Jeremy Bray, Kenny McDonald, Michael Cotter, Mohammad Arshad, Subby Ramnathpur, Yasir Cheema
Merrion: D Joyce [C], M Lewis [W], J Anderson, J Brown, T Kane, M Neville, T Stanton, V Dhiman, S Stanton, R Shivmangal, B Lakohatia
Clontarf:Joe Morrissey [C], David Delany, Declan Gallagher, Bill Coghlan, Waqar Azmat, Ropu Islam, Andrew Poynter, Conor Kelly, Robert Forrest, John Mooney, Brad Barnes.
Phoenix: Nicolaas Pretorius [C/W], Reinhardt Strydom, Richie Lawrence, Rory Anders, Adam Chester
Ari Karvelas, Tom Anders, Ian Anders, Andy Brawders, Gordy Millar, Robin Kelly.
There are also two ISC R2 replays taking place, Pembroke v Bready and The Hills v Donemana. These will likely be two difficult games against strong opposition, but home advantage is important. With both Leinster teams losing yesterday this is an early opportunity to make amends.
Pembroke: Lawson P [C], Balbirnie A, Balbirnie J, Cutler N, Garth JJ, Hogan D, Hopkins R, Lawson T, Little J, Tucker F, Tucker L.
The Hills: Max Sorensen (C), James Rogan (W), Conor McLoughlin-Gavin, Albert Van der Merwe, Hamid Shah, Ryan Cartwright, Nazeer Shoukat, Tomas Rooney-Murphy, Yaqoob Ali , Rashid Mehraj, Luke Clinton.