This weekend sees the top four teams in the top and bottom halves of the league battle it out against each other. In the top half Merrion take on The Hills at Anglesea Road and North County are hosts to YMCA. With the gap between the four top teams so tight – any slip up can be fatal. So no pressure.
Merrion have been in good form of late and are through to the last four of the RSA Irish Senior Cup. Their batting has benefitted from a friendly surface at Anglesea Road and they have managed to amass some very large totals. The Hills in contrast have had a poor league campaign over the past month, losing three out of their four league encounters and only winning the fourth against Phoenix by one wicket.
But Anglesea Road will hold no terrors for The Hills who have a very good record against Merrion in recent years [and had a comfortable win early in the season at Milverton]. In the end it may come down to whether or not Merrion’s batting can dominate the contest. The toss could prove important.
YMCA have the best playing record in the country at the moment. Top of the league [if only by three points] and still in the two major cup competitions they start as favourites. But North County away is always is difficult challenge. North County have won three out of their last four games so know that they are still in with a good chance of the league if YMCA become distracted by their cup runs.
At the other end of the table the pressure to avoid the two relegation spots is mounting. Pembroke know if they can win at home against Leinster they will go a long way to securing their D1 place for 2014. Leinster have managed a couple of good results of late but were badly beaten by Merrion last weekend and need to bounce back. Pembroke also lost, in this case in a closely fought match against North County.
The final match sees Railway Union pitched against Phoenix. Phoenix got a drubbing from YMCA last weekend and need a victory if they are to have any hope of avoiding relegation. With only one win to their name so far this year they are 45 points behind 6th placed Pembroke with six rounds to go. Railway’s win last weekend means that it is very unlikely that they will be drawn into the relegation battle, even with captain Kevin O’Brien missing a number of matches due to commitments abroad. Whether or not they have the strength to sustain a late run and challenge for the Championship is another question. The continued great form of Pat Collins is key to this.
Division 2 this year has become something of a victory parade for Clontarf. With 8/8 wins there is really nothing to stop them marching all the way to league victory. Rush, who they play in Kenure this weekend, probably represent the last chance for an upset but it is difficult to see this happening.
Malahide had a comprehensive win over Merrion IIs earlier in the season and would be expected to repeat the result [if not the full points] at home. The final match, between Leinster II and Balbriggan, is probably the most important of the round with Balbriggan just one win and one place behind Merrion II in the league. A win against Leinster II could see them move out of the relegation zone.
Selections for this weekend [where known]
Merrion [with Watkins and McDonald back after missing last weekend]
D Joyce, J Anderson, B Thompson, T Kane, B Ackland, P Blakeney, J Blakeney, S Morrissey, D Watkins, S McDonald, N Rowe
Phoenix C Kelly, M Ahmed, S Ali, D Magala, C Dickeson, T Anders, R Anders, A Leonard, B Adams, S Davis, S Raza
Clontarf [Colin Currie makes his 1st XI debut]
Eoghan Delany, Bill Coghlan, Robert Forrest, Mark Collier, Andrew Poynter, Amir Anwar, Andre Botha, Zander van der Merwe,
Colin Currie Connor D'Arcy, Adam Craig
Can captains please submit team selections and they will be added above.