LHW FINANCIAL PLANNING LEINSTER SENIOR CUP – ROUND 1 (MAY 10TH)

The first round of the LHW Financial Planning Senior Cup competition is scheduled for next Saturday, 10th May 2025.

We hugely appreciate the support of Alan Lewis, Jack Tector and the team at LHW Financial Planning for our marquee cup competition.

The Open Senior Cup competition dates back 90 years to 1935 and was initially played for by eight clubs - Leinster, Civil Service, Clontarf, Merrion, Dublin University, Pembroke, Phoenix and YMCA.

The competition has been played in various formats over the decades. The 2025 iteration will, once again, be played as a white-ball (coloured kit) knock-out competition.

Dublin University will be hosting North Kildare at College Park having last won the Senior Cup trophy in 1963 (the third year of a treble success in the competition).

The Cup holders (Pembroke) will travel to Airlie Park to play Adamstown who have recently commenced their debut campaign at First Team level.

Phoenix (who are now coached by the competition sponsor!) will be looking to go one better this year having lost out to Pembroke in the 2024 Final - their first round fixture will be an intriguing local derby at Civil Service.

Dublin University vs North Kildare (College Park)

Railway Union vs Rush (Park Avenue)

Merrion vs Clontarf (Anglesea Road)

Civil Service vs Phoenix (Civil Service)

Adamstown vs Pembroke (Airlie Park)

The Hills vs Leinster (The Vineyard)

North County vs Terenure (Inch)

Malahide vs Balbriggan (The Village)

The 2025 LHW Financial Planning Senior Cup Final is scheduled to take place at Sydney Parade on Saturday 2nd August and will be live-streamed throughout the day via the CL YouTube channel.

As part of the day, there will also be the annual CL Patron’s Lunch.

The historic trophy will be presented to the captain of the winning team by Alan Lewis, Managing Director, LHW Financial Planning.

MERRION VS CLONTARF

We kick off our look at this week’s action with what looks to be a truly mouth-watering tie, as the featured action comes from Anglesea Road, where Merrion and Clontarf are set to go toe-to-toe. Former Merrion coach Nicky Kenny has taken charge at Castle Avenue this season, and having seen the side win their first three fixtures, is sure to be confident the side can continue their good start this weekend.

Last weekend’s epic victory saw Aussie Patrick Xie dragging ‘Tarf over the line from an improbable position, adding a brilliant unbeaten stand of 95 with Yash Bala to haul the side to victory. This was Xie’s second time passing 50 in the opening three games of the season, already marking him down as a crucial member of their potential title challenge this season. Opener Mitchell Thompson made back-to-back half-centuries at the weekend, whilst Séamus Lynch is another man who started the season strongly, with his opening day 94 setting up victory against Balbriggan. Eoghan Delany has proved to be an able replacement for the spot that Curtis Campher would like to have occupied, and is sure to be aiming to cause a selection headache for when the international does return to the side. John McNally and captain David Delany round off an excellent top 6.

The bowling is led by Reuben Wilson & the skipper, whilst Luke Thomson’s spell on Monday could see him retain his spot having returned as the pick of the bowlers. Their spinners are the trump card, with Yash Bala having enjoyed a fruitful start to the season, he is with Dublin University this weekend however, so they will be looking back to their frontline spinner Cillian McDonnell, whilst Xie took the opportunity in week one to prove that his bowling is definitely more than just ‘part-time’ in this side. McNally’s seamers round off a strong bowling attack, and when the pair of all-rounders in the side is considered, gives them plenty of options to choose from.

Merrion meanwhile bounced back from an ordinary performance in week one against Phoenix with two excellent showings on the May Bank Holiday, securing 50 points and putting them third in the table. They will be sweating on the travel arragements of their replacement overseas player Connor Blaxall-Hill, who is due to arrive on the eve of the game, hoping he can add yet more firepower to the in-form pair of Stephen Doheny and Swapnil Modgill at the top of the order. John Anderson showed good form last weekend, however his two dismissals in the 30s were uncharacteristic, and he will be hoping to kick on if he gets another similar start this weekend. Jamie Forbes is missing on Dublin University duty, meaning it will likely be Danny Forkin and Max Sorensen round off a top six that is full of players with the ability to hurt their opposition in a variety of ways.

The home side’s bowling attack will once again be missing Mikey O’Reilly who missed Monday’s league game with an injury, this time he’s featuring for Dublin University, however they will be encouraged by the form of their seamers, as Hugh Kennedy and Andy Doheny both come into this fixture off the back of four-fors last weekend. Melvin Devaraj will have his confidence boosted by a mid-week appearance for the Leinster Lightning, whilst Sorensen can also take on some responsibility himself if needed. Tom Stanton and Modgill make up two of the better spinning duos in the league, with Stanton’s new-ball exploits proving particularly efficient at the start of this season.

Merrion’s opening pair are currently in flying form, and no doubt they will be hoping to see Stephen Doheny once again powering the ball to the boundary following his fine knock in the Leinster Lightning fixture mid-week. David Delany’s opening burst has been quick and fiery so far this season, and no doubt he will be aiming to breach Doheny’s defence early in this fixture.

KEY BATTLE: Stephen Doheny vs David Delany

ADAMSTOWN VS PEMBROKE

Adamstown’s first foray into the Leinster Senior Cup sees them playing host to the holders, and no doubt Pembroke will be fully aware of what a threat this fixture poses. The visitors however will be sure to be aiming to be equally professional in this fixture as they were in  brushing aside both Railway Union and Rush in league fixtures last weekend. Blake MacDonald was named on the Cricket Victoria central contracts list this week, and he looked a cut above last weekend, making scores of 43* and 79, both in quick time. Alongside him in the batting line-up, the partnership of Tim Tector and JJ Garth are a regular fixture at the top of the order, and they helped show how strong a side Pembroke can be when they have a solid platform built in setting up a total of 305 last weekend with a flying start. The middle order features the likes of Harry and Jack Tector, with the former in excellent form during the week making a century for the Lightning, whilst the new IP skipper Lorcan Tucker is another man who could appear carrying some brilliant form in from mid-week. With the ball, Gavin Hoey & Paul Lawson are the leading spinners in the side, and they will pose a massive test to their opposition, especially considering their relative inexperience at this level. The seamers are led by Byron McDonough, who was notably quicker last week than he was last season, whilst Barry McCarthy and twins Dan and Luke Murray have all featured in their opening three games, and in combination with McDonough make for a spiky task.

Pembroke’s skipper Paul Lawson when asked about this fixture noted that in the cup, nothing can be taken for granted;

“We’re looking forward to kicking off another cup campaign this weekend, obviously there are no easy games in a competition like this, and Adamstown are a potential banana skin we need to be aware of”

Adamstown meanwhile have started the season with a win and a loss, however their batting has been sub-par on both occasions. Leaving behind 20 of the 100 overs they have had available to them on having batted first in each of their fixtures. Sidarth Biju, Niranjan Shankar and Dinesh Antony are the middle order who they will be relying on to hold down the fort for the majority of the innings as they aim to give their bowling attack a fighting chance of halting the Pembroke juggernaut. At the top of the order, Prabhanshu Kamal and Aditya Gupta will play their shots in an effort to put their side on the front foot, however this tactic could easily see them coming unstuck. With the ball, Pomin Ponselvan has shown the ability to extract some prodigious swing throw the air, and he is backed up well by Krith Shetty in the seam bowling department, however it’s the leg-breaks of Kamal that they are the most reliant upon in this bowling attack, and they will need him to take wickets in order to have any chance of restricting the Pembroke batting line-up.

Ultimately, this one will come down to if Adamstown can pull a miracle bowling performance out of the fire, and as a result it’ll be up to Pomin Ponselvan to try take some early wickets. JJ Garth is potentially the one man who goes quietly under the radar in this Pembroke side, however in this sort of fixture, could be the man who produces a big score.

KEY BATTLE: Pomin Ponselvan vs JJ Garth

DUBLIN UNIVERSITY VS NORTH KILDARE

Dublin University’s first Open Comps game of the season sees them taking on First Team League opposition in North Kildare, with The Maws’ side coming into this fixture off the back of two wins in their opening two league ties. The ‘students’ side consists of a strong contingent of players from ‘Senior’ clubs, and includes four players who have featured in the InterPros at some point. Skipper David Vincent will appear at the top of the order alongside Macdara Cosgrave, with the latter coming off a ton in the Second XI Premier League last weekend, Jamie Forbes was in excellent form last weekend for Merrion, finishing off their innings brilliantly, and he will bat in the top order as well. They then have the likes of Rory Betley & ‘keeper Nic Pretorius who round out the frontline batsmen, before their all-rounders appear with the likes of Mikey O’Reilly, Matthew Humphreys and Theo Dempsey all well able to clear the ropes. With the ball, O’Reilly and Dempsey will likely open up proceedings, whilst Ben McCabe is the other seamer in the attack. Their spin bowling is excellent and full of options, with Vincent and Cosgrave both supporting Yash Bala with right-arm off-spin, whils they have left-arm orthodox options in the shape of Humphreys and Donncha Tucker.

Vincent gave us some thoughts ahead of tomorrow’s fixture;

“We're really looking forward to playing in the Senior Cup this year. We've managed to retain the majority of our squad from last year as well as welcoming a number of new players.”

The side kicked off their season brightly mid-week in the District Cup Competition, and will be hoping to continue that form;

“We started our season off well during the week with a win in the Siggins Trophy, so we're hoping to keep up that momentum and have a good run in the cup this season!”

North Kildare meanwhile saw a good batting effort secure victory for them in week one, before strong bowling powered them to victory in week two, this will no doubt have them on a high going into this weekend’s fixture. Josh Uddin and Husnain Maroof are two men who can prove destructive with the bat, however the side passed a big test last weekend when that pair didn’t do the bulk of the work with the bat, as Yash Kalasannavar made a composed 44* in their chase, along with Asadullah Ahmadzai, who proved his worth in a big way last season with Civil Service, those four make up the bulk of a batting unit which on it’s day can prove to be destructive. With the ball, Ahmadzai’s off-breaks have an uncanny knack of producing devastating spells, claiming a five-for last weekend, whilst Nurulain Boda is another all-rounder with the wicket-taking gift. Maroof and Mohammad Zaman will likely open up proceedings, whilst Yashraj Mate’s left-arm over provides another strong swing-bowling option.

Josh Uddin’s ability against spin cannot be underestimated by Dublin University here, and he will no doubt lie in wait in the middle order for NK. Yash Bala has had a fine start to the season, and he will be hoping to win this battle and put ‘The Students’ well on top early on here.

KEY BATTLE: Yash Bala vs Josh Uddin

NORTH COUNTY VS TERENURE

North County have kicked off their season in strong form, claiming two victories against Pembroke and Cork County, and only falling foul to a simply outrageous batting effort from Rush in their other game, where 313/9 wasn’t even enough to get them within 50. They have a batting unit which is in some level of form, Suliman Safi looked good in the mid-week IP passing 50, whilst Hunter Kindley made an excellent century in Kenure, Eddie Richardson’s 86 dug the side out of a hole last weekend against Cork County, and Niall McGovern’s new role at number 5 has seen him in the runs on two occasions. Injury rules out John Devane, however with Brian Dunphy, Jamie Grassi and Alan Joseph Mathew all in the side too, County look like they could be a force to be reckoned with this season, and could prove threatening in this competition. With the ball, they are without Abdul Sattar, however Usman Azhar and Eddie Richardson combine for an excellent opening pair, before the extra pace of Abdul Ghaffar is even mentioned, Sean Sludds is the fourth seamer in the side and has proved tricky on occasions this season. The spin comes from Mathew’s flat off-breaks, with support coming from the slightly more traditional off-spin bowlers of Brandon Morris and Safi.

Terenure meanwhile come into this game off the back of an opening weekend victory against Adamstown, and will be hoping to give a strong account of themselves against a side they have a decent record against in the past 5 seasons. Gareth Morgan and Jinal Khatri are the pair likely to lead the batting, with support in the middle order from Kashish Ghandi, Sid Nair & the skipper Dónal Lynch. Their bowling has been the stronger suit of the side for the past couple of seasons, and their main man Dylan Cleary will once again spearhead a quartet of seamers in this team, Ben Dillon is the other most likely new-ball bowler, whilst they too have their own man with an extra yard of pace in Kripesh Shetty, as well as Nawaz Khan’s relentless line and length. Tom Shand’s medium pace took two wickets last weekend and could play a bigger role, whilst there’s spin from Khatri and Ghandi, who both offer decent leg-break options.

This key battle should come as a surprise to nobody, Suliman Safi is the wicket which everyone covets the most when they play against North County, and having knocked him over the last time the pair faced off, it will once again be Dylan Cleary who the Clee look to in an effort to get on top with the ball early on.

KEY BATTLE: Suliman Safi vs Dylan Cleary

MALAHIDE VS BALBRIGGAN

Two sides who have shared just one win this season face off in The Village, with both teams sure to be hoping that a knockout game could spur a big performance from them. Malahide will see their batting led by a man whose performances don’t seem to need anything to spur them on at the moment. Robbie Foulkes looked imperious in both his innings’ last weekend, proving desperately unlucky not to make a century in Monday’s loss to Leinster. He’ll be accompanied by Timcy Khanduja at the top of the order, whilst Adam Doyle and Cormac McLoughlin-Gavin will aim to provide some solidity in the middle order. With the ball, Liam Foulkes’ 5-wicket haul kept the side in the game against Leinster last time out, and he alongside their two excellent left-arm options in Mohit Sane and Mike Frost give them plenty of spin that they can utilise should they need to do so. The continued absence of Kelvin Donnelly doesn’t help their seaming stocks, however they will be hoping that the skipper James Newland can potentially get back to somewhere near his best this weekend. Andy Sheridan and Robbie Foulkes are the other two medium pacers in the side, with Sheridan in particular having produced good spells in two of the three fixtures they have played so far.

Balbriggan meanwhile are another team sweating on the arrival of their overseas player, they will be hoping that Sebastian D’Oliveira arrives in time for this fixture to add to the side with both bat and ball. Should he arrive, he will make a very strong three-pronged pace attack alongside Matthew Hollard, who impressed with his pace in Phoenix on Monday, and Sam Willemse who’s left-arm seam can at times find significant movement through the air. Kashif Ali would be the other seam bowler in the side, and his middle over skills could prove very important. The spinners in the side are Jordan Hollard and Dylan Lues, again a pair of off-spinners who both provide different dimensions to their team’s attack. With the bat, ‘Brig have been poor this season so far, and will need to produce a better effort from 1-4 in order to give themselves a chance of producing a decent total. Connor Fletcher and Ghanim Dara at the top of the order are a pair who will need to start the game on the front foot here, whilst their two main men are Chris de Freitas at 3, and Cameron Rowe at 4, they will be hoping this quartet can help set the game up for the likes of Greg Ford, Hollard and Lues to open their arms in the second half of the innings, particularly Lues, who has been the one bright spark in the side so far this season.

Having bowled an excellent spell last weekend without reward, Matthew Hollard will be a key man for Balbriggan once again here, if he can get the better of Robbie Foulkes early in the Malahide batting innings, it could give the home side a decent chance of picking up their first victory of the season.

KEY BATTLE: Matthew Hollard vs Robbie Foulkes

RAILWAY UNION VS RUSH

Two more sides sharing just one win do battle in Park Avenue, with conditions set to be interesting after Railway Union had to concede home advantage last weekend in their narrow defeat to Clontarf in order to get their game played. A strong batting effort was led by Rob O’Brien last weekend for the home side, and alongside the in-form Philippe le Roux they could prove to be a tough pair for Rush to deal with. Ashil Prakash and Hedayat Khogiani will set the base for that pair, whilst they will look to the likes of Liam McCarthy and Peter le Roux to finish the innings off strongly, there’s also a first appearance of the season for Letli Sesele, and it will be interesting to see where he bats in the line-up. With the ball, McCarthy undoubtedly sets the standard within the team, and his new ball spell will be crucial, he’s likely to be partnered by Zaman Safi once again. Digamber Mishra is the other frontline seamer in the side from last weekend, with the trio joined by Muhammad Sinan, there’s no doubt Railway will be hoping these four can combine to take wickets early on. Srihan Karpe’s 4-for last weekend was very nearly a game winning spell, and he will likely be the frontline spinner in the side once again, with support coming from Prakash.

Rush meanwhile come into this one after a mixed bag of performances so far. Their batting is firmly led by the middle order, where Abid Taniwal and Hashir Sultan are both looking to prove themselves as genuine threats after their strong starts to the season. They look set to continue in their roles at 5 & 6 in the batting order, and will be hoping for a strong start from Prasanth Viswanath and Nasir Totakhil at the top of the order to allow them, along with Nathan McGurie and Jack McGee at 3 & 4, to play as naturally as possible and push the game along at their own tempo. Finn McGee is the wicket-keeper and he rounds off the batting unit at number 7. With the ball, Jarred Barnes and Allan Eastwood look set to be used in slightly different roles this season, with one partnering Taniwal for the opening spell and the other following, if this tactic proves to be successful, with Asher Abbasi also a good option early on, Rush could show themselves to be an extremely difficult side to score runs against in the first 20 overs of games. Alex Neary is the other seamer in the side, and his 5/33 in last week’s loss to Pembroke is sure to see him bowling with great confidence once again this time around. The spinners come in the shape of Totakhil’s left-arm and McGuire’s right-arm offies, and whilst neither was anything like as economical as they would have hoped in Monday’s fixture, they are two high-quality options which are likely to prove key in Park Avenue’s traditionally lower conditions this weekend.

Having shown some excellent form mid-week Philippe le Roux is set to be a vital member of this Railway Union batting unit this time around, if he can get on top against Nasir Totakhil, it could prove to be a crucial part of the game once again.

KEY BATTLE: Philippe le Roux vs Nasir Totakhil

THE HILLS VS LEINSTER

Polarising starts to the season between The Hills and Leinster would generally see this fixture down as being one which the Rathmines outfit ought to be favorites for, however the home advantage aspect for The Hills cannot be underestimated, nor can the fact that, in spite of two losses last weekend, they do have a couple of batters in-form who could pose a threat to Leinster. Hassan Shahid at the top of the order comes in off the back of a half-century in the District Cup mid-week and his partner, Brandon Kruger has passed 50 in two of their three fixtures so far, whilst in the middle order, the Kuwait international Edson Silva has shown on a number of occasions to be destructive, and has the potential to do so once again this weekend. They will be hoping that Ollie Horlock, Andy Kavanagh and Tómas Rooney-Murphy can potentially add to the form which this trio has shown so far and assist in pulling together a strong batting effort. With the ball, they have been solid so far, taking ten wickets in their first two games, in no small part due to the form of their seamers. Sean McNicholl’s opening day 6-for led the way against Rush, whilst Cian Nulty’s 4-for helped them keep ‘Tarf to a below average score last Saturday. That pair will be supported by the left-arm of Matthew Weldon, and the skipper Rooney-Murphy, as they will hope to return to the consistent side which they have been known for being in recent seasons. Febin Manoj is their main spinner in the line-up, with his mystery spin proving difficult for several batters to face since he broke into the side last season, he’s supported by Brandon Kruger, who is a canny operator capable of also picking up key wickets.

Leinster meanwhile saw their season super-boosted last weekend when Ben Mitchell returned at the top of the order, his clean ball striking seeing him open his campaign with scores of 61 and 99, falling at a very unlucky stage in the latter innings, having been stranded on 99 for the duration of the drinks break. Leinster’s coach Jonny Garth was absolutely fuming with his side after they threw away an excellent position in their last game against Malahide, as in spite of emerging victorious they went from 190/3 after 32 overs, to 232 all out and leaving the potential to kill the game behind them. No doubt the likes of Younas Ahmadzai and Saqib Bahadur will have his message to capitalise on these good positions ringing in their ears when they go to bat this weekend, and they are two key batters in the middle order with that in mind. Joey Carroll showed good form against Balbriggan, as did Gareth Delany, and the experience which that duo bring to the middle order is another key aspect of this side, whilst at the top, Tom Johnson has made good starts and looks on the verge of a big score, whilst Monil Patel at number three is another player more than capable of producing big scores. Their bowling is led by the left-arm seam of Jai Moondra, who’s good early season form has seen him force his way into the Leinster Lightning reckoning, whilst Mark Tonge and Bilal Azhar are another good pair of bowlers they often make use of in the Power Play overs. The spin comes from Delany, Bahadur and Johnson as they look to have a team laden with bowling options, and are no doubt targeting another strong cup-run here.

Brandon Kruger has been of an attacking mind early on so far this season, and he’s set to find himself locking horns with one of the quicker bowlers around in Jai Moondra this weekend, if Moondra can knock him over early doors, it will give Leinster a look at what may yet prove to be something of a soft-underbelly in the Hills middle order.

KEY BATTLE: Brandon Kruger vs Jai Moondra

CIVIL SERVICE VS PHOENIX

Civil Service come into this weekend’s Park derby off the back of a bye last weekend, and it remains to be seen whether that proves to be a good thing as they come up against a Phoenix side which is full of confidence off the back of three consecutive victories to start the season. Service were comprehensively beaten in their first outing of the season, however they did show a little bit of backbone as their number 8 on that day, Vijay Adhikari produced an excellent 61-ball 93 to keep his side within arms reach of North Kildare. He will doubtless have earned a promotion for that effort, and will accompany the likes of Binson Thambi, Arjun Chandrasekar, Nilesh Joshi and skipper Deepak Jayachandran in a batting order that has good experience after spending the past two seasons playing in the Championship. With the ball, they remain heavily reliant on Naveed Khan’s opening spell, and he’ll be supported by Thambi and Suman Dey, however it’s Aamir Bafanda who they will want to see step up to the plate, as he did in their opening fixture taking 4 wickets, with his offies now being the primary spin option in the side.

Phoenix meanwhile are aiming to go one better than they did last season in this competition, when they were beaten by Pembroke in the final by 210 runs having shipped a massive total of 323/8 in the first innings. Their batting unit this year is led by Levon Shields and Shane Getkate at the top of the order, whilst the likes of Eknoor Singh, Tyrone Kane and Adam Chester are the mainstays through the middle. Their man in-form however is doubtless George Dockrell, who was pulling up trees last weekend with a vital 64 in Cork arresting an initial collapse, before his unbeaten 117 on Monday saw them posting an unassailable total against Balbriggan, once again from a position which looked initially shaky. With the ball meanwhile, aside from Kane’s blockbuster spell on Monday that brushed the ‘Brig aside, it’s been their spinners have proved to be the key so far, Ben White’s leggies lead the way on that front, whilst their pair of left-armers in Amish Sidhu and Dev Ranolia are also good options. Eknoor Singh’s off-breaks round off an attack which may not even see necessary to throw the ball to Dockrell such is the depth of the spinning ranks.

In order to get the better of Phoenix here, Civil Service will need to put some big runs on the board, which will require them getting through the opening spell of Tyrone Kane, if Nilesh Joshi can weather that opening storm, it will see them in with some chance of putting a good total up.

KEY BATTLE: Nilesh Joshi vs Tyrone Kane

LHW FINANCIAL PLANNING LEINSTER SENIOR CUP

ROUND ONE – MAY 10^TH, ALL 12 NOON STARTS

At Anglesea Road, Merrion vs Clontarf (Featured Game)

At Airlie Park, Adamstown vs Pembroke

At College Park, Dublin University vs North Kildare

At Inch, North County vs Terenure

At Jack Harper Ground, Balbriggan vs Malahide

At Park Avenue, Railway Union vs Rush

At The Vineyard, The Hills vs Leinster

At Civil Service, Civil Service vs Phoenix