Each year there is a discussion about the merits or otherwise of the ‘two up / two down’ promotion and relegation regulations that govern the open competition leagues in Leinster. A number of arguments about the size of leagues and the strength of teams are put forward to challenge the status quo. What is undeniable, however, is that the current regulations reduce the number of matches that are ‘dead rubbers’, i.e. games that don’t affect either promotion or relegation for either team.
Last year when Leinster won the D1 league with a couple of weeks to spare, interest was still maintained up until the last weekend as three teams fought to avoid relegation and only two matches did not count. This year it is the fate of the championship that is at stake and we go into the last weekend looking to the results from three out of the four matches.
Even in D2, where two teams have seemed destined for promotion from the early in the year, the second relegation spot is still at issue and will be determined by the outcome from two of the three matches in the final round.
Taking the two competitions as a whole this means that of the 105 matches due to be played this summer in no more than four or five cases will the result not potentially affect either promotion or relegation for one of the teams.
The outcome of the Championship will be fought out between The Hills, Merrion and YMCA in the last round of matches. The Hills, following a typical gritty team performance in which they secured the crucial win against YMCA, are in poll position. One more win against Phoenix next weekend and the trophy is theirs. Merrion managed to maintain pressure on the leaders following a comfortable win against Pembroke while YMCA, despite losing their encounter in The Hills, are still in contention.
The long drawn out endgame at the other end of the table has finally come to a conclusion with both Phoenix and Leinster now confirmed as being relegated from D1. Terenure, following their win against Leinster II, join Clontarf and both are promoted to D1.
The issue of the second relegation spot in D2 also goes down to the wire. Merrion II managed the narrowest of wins against Balbriggan to put some daylight between the two teams going into the last round. But Merrion II have Clontarf in the last match while Balbriggan have the still difficult but much less daunting task of trying to secure a win against Rush. If they can manage this Balbriggan stand a good chance of catching Merrion.
The results from this weekend:
RSA OC Division 1
Merrion v Pembroke
Pembroke 186. Merrion 188/4 [J Anderson 85*, B Thompson, 61]
Merrion win by six wickets
The Hills v YMCA
The Hills 207/8. YMCA 138.
The Hills win by 69 runs
Leinster v Phoenix
Leinster 205 [R Forrest, 79], Phoenix 209/2 [D Magala 86*, C Kelly 61]
Phoenix win by eight wickets
North County v Railway Union
North County 273/9 [C Armstrong 113, E Richardson 55] Railway 208 [M Tariq 78]
North County won by 65 runs.
RSA OC Division 2
Rush v Malahide
Malahide 251/9 [A Muntha, 90], rush 252/6 [L Jansen 66, A Butterly 65]
Rush win by four wickets
Terenure v Leinster II
Terenure 337/1 [R Lawrence 155*, T Fisher 151*] Leinster 178
Balbriggan v Merrion II*
Balbriggan 178. Merrion 179/9 [K Beasley, 96]
Merrion win by one wicket
* No official scorecard submitted.