Four things happened yesterday in the Russell Court D1 and D2 Leagues. Clontarf had a bad day [one of very few this summer] and left the door open for the chasing pack. However, Phoenix and The Hills declined the offer to go through. So not much has changed and with another round gone Clontarf’s hold on the title gets just a little bit tighter. A win tomorrow v Cork [which given Cork’s current form with the bat is highly probable] should erase memory of the temporary wobble for Clontarf.

The second happening links the fates of the teams from 2nd to 7th in the table, who are within 25 points of each other, with Malahide’s journey to overtake Dublin University for the promotion play off spot in RCD2. This means that six teams are in the battle to avoid the relegation play-off spot and any of them could end up there. To clarify, the reason that Cork are unlikely to be involved is that they are now 60 points adrift at the foot of the table.

Linked to this is the progress of Malahide in RCD2. With four games to play they are 55 points behind Dublin University. They could reach this target with two wins and an average of four bonus points per match. Perhaps a more likely scenario is three wins - meaning that they can only afford to lose one more game. Their remaining schedule includes an encounter with Merrion, so there is not much margin for error. The finishing line is now in sight but they first [Monday] have to defeat a Railway side that is certainly playing better than at the start of the season.

The third noteworthy event is the competition at the bottom of RCD2. Five teams are now bunched within a 15 point band. As there are rumours that at least one of the teams competing for the D3 title is contemplating accepting promotion if they are successful, the battle to avoid the places at the bottom of D2 is likely to get quite intense over the coming weeks. Every point matters.

The final outcome from yesterday - and the least noteworthy - is another win for Merrion. To be fair Railway put up strong resistance and Merrion had to dig deep to chase a total of 243 [in the 48th over for the loss of six wickets]. But the end result is that with four games to play and the distance between them and Malahide standing at 92 points, only quantum theorists and extreme fantasists retain an interest in the destination of the D2 title.

So that is what happened on Saturday. Things may be a little clearer after Monday’s round of matches. Or perhaps not.

Some personal achievements over the weekend so far.

There were two five wicket hauls in RCD1. Gordon Millar [Phoenix] took a senior* career best 5/51 v Pembroke as did Adam Coughlan [5/20] for North County v Cork County. In a day of relatively low scores there were no 100s to report. Half-centuries by Fiachra Tucker [55] and Nick Cutler [64] laid the foundation for the Pembroke win v Phoenix. Tucker also took 4/23. Gareth Delany’s run a ball 74 for Leinster ensured that they made a very competitive 233/7 in 37 overs v Clontarf. Three wickets each for Joe Carroll [3/16] and Bilal Azhar [3/29] then took apart the Clontarf top order with only Bill Coghlan [50] getting into double figures. Cork were bowled out for 77 against North County with Coghlan [5/20] and Eddie Richardson [3/15] taking the wickets.

In the final game The Hills made 236/9 in 49 overs with Hamid Shah making a brisk 75. James Parkinson [3/42] had the best bowling figures for YMCA. When it was YMCA’s turn to bat, Tom Fisher laid the foundations with 80 but in the end it was left to the lower order to scramble across the line on the last ball with two wickets to spare.

In RCD2, 50s from Tom Satchwell [67] and Manpreet Singh [52] weren’t enough for North Kildare whose total of 216/9 fell short of what was required. Sean Davey [3/21] and James Newland [3/41] did most of the damage for Malahide. A century opening partnership between Danny O’Shea [88] and Alan Reynolds [59] ensured that Malahide had a comfortable seven wicket win. Four early wickets for Allan Eastwood [4/25] for Rush put Balbriggan on the back foot from the start and they needed runs from Trent McGrath [62] and Ehtesham Ahmed [53] to post a score of 204. But it wasn’t nearly enough and Stephen Doheny [61] and Neil Rock [64*] saw Rush home for the loss of only two wickets.

In the final game Railway made the highest total of the day [242/8] thanks to 78 from Rachit Gaur. Sean Stanton took 3/47 for Merrion. With three wickets falling quickly Merrion were in some early trouble but contributions down the order, led by Tyrone Kane with 65, saw them home by four wickets.