IBI CORPORATE FINANCE CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW – SEPTEMBER 6TH

With no significant changes in the offing in this weekend’s IBI Corporate Finance Championship games, this weekend is set to be something of a damp squib, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see some clubs giving some of their younger or fringe players an opportunity to show their worth after a long season.

Balbriggan and Rush face off in Kenure, with whoever wins that game finishing in 2^nd place, whilst a win for Malahide in Inch could see them finish as high as third. The Hills and Cork County face off in Skerries, with the hosts already condemned to relegation ahead of the 2026 season.

RUSH VS BALBRIGGAN

In Kenure, a tie that went right down to the wire earlier in the season sees the Irish Cup Champions visiting Rush. This looks very much as though it could be a battle of Rush’s powerful batting line-up against Balbriggan’s fine bowling unit. Rush are led by Jack McGee, who since moving to the top of the order is averaging almost 44 with the bat, including 70 in the earlier fixture. Nathan McGuire will bat at number four, where he too settled into some excellent form this season, averaging more than 55 in that role, whilst their heaviest run-scorer this season will follow in the shape of Abid Taniwal, with his 675 runs so far this term in all competitions coming at an average of 40. Around that trio, Finn McGee is knocking on the door at 400 runs having also found some late-season form, whilst Nasir Totakhil is the other mainstay in the side. On the bowling front, they look to Allan Eastwood and Jarred Barnes to set the tone as usual, Eastwood in particular proving to be in fine form in recent weeks in spite of it being potentially the last few matches of his Senior career. That duo are partnered between their two spinners in the wicket-taking stakes, with left-armer Totakhil leading the way for the side with 26, whilst McGuire’s off-breaks have seen him take 14 wickets. The other seamers in the side are likely to see Alex Neary and Asher Abbasi featuring.

Balbriggan meanwhile have blown very much hot and cold since the beginning of the Championship campaign, a thumping win against the league leaders followed by defeat to Malahide. They do, however, retain plenty of match winners in their side, none more so than the league’s leading wicket-taker in Matt Hollard. He’ll open the bowling alongside Seb De Oliveira, who alongside the third seamer in the side Andrew Darroch has taken 17 wickets. It’s their spin duo however of Dylan Lues and Jordan Hollard who have been a constant wicket-taking threat throughout the middle overs, and are likely to prove as such again, with spinners’ ability to adapt to Kenure always proving vital to a team’s performance in the ground. With the bat, Balbriggan will be looking to their leading trio of opener Connor Fletcher, and middle order batters Cameron Rowe and Chris de Freitas, to produce the bulk of their runs, and doubtless all of these men will relish the opportunity to take advantage of the free-scoring nature of Rush as a ground.

Chris de Freitas has been in superb form for much of this season, and will be the man that Balbriggan hope can put together a strong innings to finish off the season, if he can get through the fiery opening spell of Allan Eastwood, it will put Balbriggan into a good position.

KEY BATTLE: Allan Eastwood vs Chris de Freitas

N COUNTY VS MALAHIDE

In Inch, the home side’s batting hasn’t had a specific stand-out operator this season. The top six averaging between 19 and 37. At the top, Suliman Safi is the key man, and will be looking to finish the season on a high, with his 149* against Rush a few weeks ago being a particular highlight. Jamie Grassi is the side’s leading run-scorer, and along with Hunter Kindley and Niall McGovern makes up on paper a strong batting unit. On the bowling front, Richardson will likely open alongside Kindley, whilst the spin could come from two of Alan Joseph Mathew, Brandon Morris, Johan George and Safi. Jake Devane and Sean Sludds are the back-up seamers.

Malahide have been in poor form for much of this season, and will no doubt be thankful to have secured safety ahead of this fixture. Their overseas man Robbie Foulkes will have one last opportunity to show what he’s all about, and no doubt will have his eye on that elusive century. He’ll be joined by Adam Doyle at the top of the order, with the right-hander having proved crucial to their relegation ‘six-pointer’ against The Hills a couple of weeks ago. The middle order will see the big hitting of Matt Ford, innovation of Jeremy Martins and finishing ability of Andy Sheridan all appearing, whilst there may also be space for Alex Brown, who will look to find the ropes as well. Cormac McLoughlin-Gavin would add plenty of stability should he continue in the batting unit. With the ball, Ravi Kumar has been a revelation opening up, and he’s likely to be joined by Kelvin Donnelly, with skipper James Newland the other potential new-ball bowler. Martins and Sheridan are the other seamers in the side, whilst Mike Frost’s left-arm spin makes him another vital part of this bowling unit.

Robbie Foulkes will look to get on top of County early on here, if he can dominate his fellow countryman Hunter Kindley in the opening throws, it could prove to be a big part of the game for his side.

KEY BATTLE: Hunter Kindley vs Robbie Foulkes

THE HILLS VS CORK COUNTY

The Hills welcome Cork County to The Vineyard this weekend, and whilst they cannot do anything about their final league positioning, they will be keen to sign off their season with a positive result. Aussie Ollie Horlock will round off his season this weekend and is sure to be looking for a big performance. It’s likely that his countryman James Cusack will also feature in the top order this weekend, along with Hassan Shahid, whilst Muzamil Sherzad has been a constant opening the batting in recent weeks. Matthew Weldon and Nathan Rooney will look to up the tempo in the middle order ahead of gloveman Andy Kavanagh. With the ball, Sean McNicholl and Cian Nulty are the two men in the side who have performed by a distance the best, McNicholl’s 31 wickets costing 21.3 runs apiece, whilst Nulty has claimed 26 at an average of 20.7, that duo are sure to be aiming to show off their skills to round out the season. Febin Manoj will lead the spinners, however beyond this trio, the side has really lacked in penetration, with no other bowler passing the 12 wicket mark in 21 matches so far this season. Doubtless there will be some players looking to prove a point to their team-mates before the winter.

Cork County meanwhile come in to this game after what they will no doubt deem to have been an excellent season for the side, they are near full strength this weekend, with just Brian Upman missing. The four wins they have claimed to secure their safety have included some massive performances from their overseas man Mark Andrianatos, who this weekend returns to the bowling crease having spent much of the last two months as a batter only. He’ll likely open the bowling alongside Thorne Prophet, whilst Tiago Oelefse and Zubair Khan will be the change seamers in the side. There’s bundles of options for skipper Diarmuid Carey to turn to on the spin front, with leggie Mark Donnelly coming into the side for the first time this season, whilst Bakhtyar Nabi is the other high-class option. With the bat, Benji Marris is set to play his final game before retiring at the end of the season, and he’ll open up alongside Sunil Gautam, whilst the all-rounders through the middle order include Andrianatos, Prophet, Raj Undre and Ehsan O’Sullivan, in a side that looks solid even in the absence of their main man in the middle.

The thorn in The Hills’ side in The Mardyke earlier this season was Mark Andrianatos, and whilst it was with the bat that he did the damage that day, it’s likely to be his bowling which worries them the most this time around. If he can knock over James Cusack early on, it could prove to be another long day for the Skerries outfit.

KEY BATTLE: James Cusack vs Mark Andrianatos

IBI CORPORATE FINANCE CHAMPIONSHIP

FINAL ROUND, SEPTEMBER 6^TH, ALL 12 NOON STARTS

At Kenure, Rush vs Balbriggan

At Inch, N County vs Malahide

At The Vineyard, The Hills vs Cork County