For the last couple of seasons there has effectively been no promotion from D3. This has added a certain stability to the league which has proved a good gauge of the overall strength of clubs. The importance of D3 in preparing players for competition at the highest level can be seen in the fact that the eight Premier clubs are represented in D3 and that their success in the Premier league is roughly paralleled by the performance of their 2nd XIs. How this will change next year with promotion to D2 a live prospect remains to be seen. But for the moment what are the likely outcomes this year.
The winners for the last four years [before that Cork County and Balbriggan won the league to secure promotion to D2] have come from the three sides currently most likely in contention for the title.
This year there are nine teams as North Kildare dropped down from D2, but sadly they have not been able to compete at this level and indeed have found it difficult to field a team for parts of the season. This will no doubt present a serious headache for the OC Committee as they try to put together league structures for 2019.
With four rounds to play [and some teams having outstanding matches to be included in Table] there is mathematically at least still everything to play for. Despite losing to The Hills 2 mid week, Merrion 2 remain in top spot. But it is a slender lead with Pembroke 2 only 12 points behind. Merrion play Leinster 2 today and have a chance to put some distance between them and the chasing sides. Overall they have a reasonable run in but will look to key games against North County [A] and Pembroke [H] as ones they need to win if they are to take the title.
Pembroke are lying second after an great run of results - winning their last three games and six of their last seven [somehow losing to Merrion 2 by 180 runs in between]. If they can continue on this form through to the end of the season they have a good chance of taking the title, especially as they have outstanding matches against their two main rivals Merrion and YMCA.
YMCA have been at or close to the top of the table for most of the season. With only three games remaining, they need to win one game more than Merrion over the remainder of the season if they are to overhaul the current leaders. They need the extra win because they have less than half Merrion’s bonus points. They have two games that they will target for wins v Leinster 2 and The Hills 2 but the crunch game could well be their last scheduled v Pembroke 2.
Both Clontarf 2 and North County 2 stand a good way behind in terms of points but a few late wins could move them up the table and leave it open for them to grab a promotion spot if two of the leading teams falter. But at the moment it is looking like comfortable mid-table.
Given the potential restructuring and the position of North Kildare in a nine team league, what happens at the end of the season is by no means clear. With games in hand there are too many permutations to get a clear sight of likely outcomes. At this point all one can say is that The Hills, Phoenix and Leinster are under greatest pressure to avoid eighth place.
The D3 games today are Leinster 2 v Merrion 2 in Rathmines and The Hills 2 v YMCA 2 at the Vineyard. Also watch out for refixes scheduled for next Tuesday.