The draw for the quarter finals of the 2016 Leinster Senior Cup was held on Tuesday, with the draw broadcast live on NEAR fm.
With two first round ties still to be decided, there are two ties with details still to be undecided, but that just throws up more intrigue.
The Rush/Clontarf first round match was the only one not to even get started, after the covers in Rush leaked. That game is to be replayed on Sunday 5th May, with the winners hosting Pembroke in the quarter final. Clontarf remain overwhelming favourites to win their first round match, and if they prevail would renew a rivalry against Pembroke that has been nothing if not lively. Clontarf beat Pembroke in the 2012 final by 6 wickets, before Pembroke got their revenge the following year, beating Clontarf in the semi final, before losing to YMCA in the final.
If Rush were to upset the odds against Clontarf, they would have another tough match in store against Pembroke. The last time the sides met in the Cup was in 2012, when Pembroke ran up 333-5 thanks to 50s from Theo Lawson, Robin Russell and Barry McCarthy. The last time the sides met in Kenure was the Robin Kelly match, with the Pembroke batsmen scoting 219 out of 412-6.
The second quarter final also involves an undecided match, with the winners of the Phoenix/Terenure first round game to host Leinster. Phoenix and Leinster have clashed dozens of times in the Senior Cup over the last 100 years, but not at all in the last five - mainly due to the lack of a cup run by either side. But there has been six league meetings with Phoenix winning four. And the above sentence can be repeated for the relationship between Terenure and Leinster - no cup matches recently, but six league games of which Leinster have the upper hand with four wins.
North Kildare's first ever match in the Leinster Senior Cup will be a home match against Railway Union. As with all cup ties, the underdogs don't care who they get as long as they get a home draw, and both sides will be reasonably happy. North Kildare's ex Railway Union player Josh Uddin, will get a chance to show Railway what they are missing, and following recent results, Railway will be taking nothing for granted.
North Kildare have had highs and lows already this season, but their win over Malahide will have filled them with confidence, whilst Railway have yet to win a game this year.
The final match is the tie of the round, with Merrion hosting YMCA. The last eleven matches between the two go Merrion's way 6-5. The last five matches in Anglsea Road go Merrion's way as well - 4-1. The last Senior Cup match was back in 2012. Trent Johnston was the pick of the YMCA bowlers with 3-13 from 6 overs as Merrion were restricted to 240, with the man of the moment John Anderson top scoring with 88. TJ was on hand to win the match with the bat as well, scoring 68 as YMCA recovered from 111-3 to win by 5 wickets.
It promises to be a cracker with each team full of Leinster Lightning and Ireland youth players. The matches are to be played on Saturday 11th June.
The draw for the quarter finals of the Senior 2 Cup will be held on Tuesday 31st May at 11.30am and will be braodcast on NEARfm.