With two rounds of matches [plus Clontarf v YMCA re-fix next Tuesday] to go in this years Mason Alexander / LHW Financial Services Premier League a number of scenarios come into view. Although every match in today’s penultimate round matters in the sense that at least one of the teams is either chasing honours or trying to avoid relegation, at this point some teams have less at stake than others.
The title chase has reduced to two teams - Merrion and Clontarf. The teams meet on the final round in Anglesea Rd in what promises to be a league decider. But Clontarf have to do a little work first to make sure that they are within 25 points of Merrion at this point. They have their refixed game in hand but are currently 37 points adrift. In today’s game Clontarf travel to Pembroke and will need to have shaken off any celebrations from yesterday’s Senior Cup win to avoid a slip up. A loss today and their plans for a final day shoot-out may come to nothing.
With points in the bank there is less at stake for Merrion as they take on The Hills in Anglesea Rd. A win is important to maintain momentum [with the Irish Senior Cup final coming up next weekend] and to ensure that they stay ahead of Clontarf on points [in the event of a wash out in the final game]. But they have done enough to guarantee at least another ‘cup final’ outing against Clontarf on the 8th September.
Three teams are involved in the relegation battle. The Hills are in the strongest position and have two chances [victory in either round] to guarantee safety. But they would be hopeful that the current gap of 34 points over Leinster will be carried through to the last round and a win in the final round won’t be necessary. However, if they lose today, and either Leinster or Phoenix win, they will go into the last round with their position not secure.
Notwithstanding the continued interest of The Hills, the most likely scenario is that the bottom two teams at the end of the season will be Phoenix and Leinster. What only 8 points between them it is still all to play for to determine who will face automatic relegation and who will have a second chance in a play-off with the runners up from D2. Leinster play YMCA [A] and North County [H] and Phoenix have two away fixtures against North County and The Hills. Leinster might be counted to have marginally the easier run in but it is still all to play for.
What of YMCA, Pembroke and North County? With no skin in the game in terms of title or relegation they can afford to relax and enjoy the final games. However, the results from their remaining games still have a major bearing on the outcome of the league.
The final uncertainty as always is the weather. Today’s forecast is not great but the weather is expected to improve in the afternoon so shortened DLS games may be on the cards.
Teams [as submitted]
The Hills [v Merrion]
Nicolaas Pretorius [C], Kyllin Vardhan., Albert van der Merwe , Mark Donegan, Daya Singh , Max Sorensen, Tomas Rooney Murphy, Naz Shoukat, Andy Kavanagh, Harry Archer, Cian Nulty
Clontarf [v Pembroke]
Joe Morrissey [C}, Declan Gallagher, Waqar Azmat , Andrew Poynter, Sameer Dutt, Conor Kelly, Bill Coghlan, Obus Pienaar, Robert Forrest, Ian Dent, Shariful Islam
Merrion [v The Hills]
D Joyce [C}, J Carty, J Anderson, T Kane, P Mehta, M Lewis, P Tice [W], T Stanton, N Shankar, D Langford Smith, B Lakhotia.
Leinster [v YMCA]
G. Delany(C), C. Mallon, M. Patel, H. McDonnell, J. Carroll , P. Lynch, S. Bahadur, I. O'Herlihy (W), T. De Beer, A. Clough, B. Azhar.
YMCA [v Leinster]
Tector J [C], Gunning O, Tector H, Tector T, Gamble R, Thompson M, Parkinson J, Barnes J, Flanagan P, Cassidy, JJ, Abassi A.
North County [v Phoenix]
Niall McGovern [C], Jamie Grassi [W], Malcolm Nofal, Jonno Andrews, Eddie Richardson, Safdar Ali, Adam Coughlan, Andrew Sheridan, Cian Mulvanny, Sean Kingston, Manmeet Singh.
Phoenix [v North County]
Brad Kneebone [C}, Reinhardt Strydom, Stephen Black, Richie Lawrence, Fletcher Coutts, Adam Chester, Ben White, Gordy Miller, Vish Vaidyanathan, Barry Dyer, Louie MacDonough