The Senior League Cup begins to sort itself out
It may seem strange to say it but some teams we are now at the halfway mark in this season’s first competition, and it isn’t the 1st of May yet. So time for the first checkpoint and a look at what clubs have to do to qualify for the Premier League later in the year and also for the finals stages of the IBI Corporate Finance Senior League Cup.
First a quick look at the league tables. As always the cautionary note that these are not official until confirmed by the relevant Cricket Leinster bodies and put up on the main Results tables.
Section A has split down the middle with The Hills and Malahide each recorded three wins and Phoenix winning two out of two. The matches between these three sides will likely determine the qualifiers for the final stages. Dublin University may also have a say on who goes through if they can deny points to any of the contenders.
The qualification for the Premier League is likely to come down to a dogfight between YMCA, North County and perhaps Railway, with only one side going through. None of these have yet recorded a win.
In the next Round of matches we will have one of the deciding games in the competition when Phoenix take on The Hills. YMCA have a chance to get their season started when they play Dublin University. And they cannot really afford to lose. And North County will want to use home advantage to get ahead of opponents Railway and seek to secure their Premier league place. North County have the added pressure of trying to maintain their record as the only side that has never been relegated from Division 1.
Merrion have raced out to an early lead in Section B with three wins, but they have still to play the next three teams in the table. Although there is nothing to separate them on points, one would expect that of the bottom three clubs Clontarf have the best chance of qualifying for the Premier League and even an outside chance [but they have to win all their remaining games and probably secure a sizeable number of bonus points] of getting through to the LC final stage.
The next round of games see Balbriggan travel to Anglesea Road to take on Merrion. Another big scalp for the visitors would almost secure them Premier status. Terenure are up against Rush with the winners hoping to start a run of wins that could get them a top four placing. Finally, a very big game for Clontarf who need to win in Rathmines. Leinster, on the other hand, must win if they are to maintain their challenge for a LC semi-final spot.
Anyone who want to look at the scorecards for last weekends games should go to https://cricclubs.com/CricketLeinster