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Divisions 1 & 2: review of weekend 11th - 12th June; preview of weekend 18th - 19th June

Last Saturday saw seven of the eight ties in the Bob Kerr Irish Senior Cup reach a conclusion.  The one that didn't was the only tie not involving an LCU club, and I won't comment any more on that tie: I'll leave the discussion to others.  The seven ties produced five LCU victories and two defeats.

I was at Castle Avenue watching the one home defeat.  The Brigade opening bowlers found plenty of movement and bounce to exploit, fully justifying their skipper's decision to ask Clontarf to bat first.  Johnny Thompson took two wickets and Ata ur-Rehman one to leave 'Tarf on 41-3.  Andrew Poynter (25) and Adrian D'Arcy (31) had to graft for their runs against tight bowling from Trevor Britton, Graham Moore and Ifty Hussein, but from 113-4 Clontarf subsided to 169-7 with Eoghan Delany's 34* the only bright feature.  The home bowlers couldn't get the same life from the pitch as Brigade cruised to a nine wicket victory, with Chris Dougherty 68* and Ifty Hussein 51*.

The other defeat was at The Lawn, where two of the big beasts of Irish club cricket met.  Waringstown won the toss and batted, losing their first three wickets for 112.  That brought in Obus Pienaar to join Kyle McCallan.  Pienaar made 82 of the next 131 runs off 51 balls, and McCallan was out for 111 in the last over.  North County set about chasing 283-5 with a 61 run opening partnership, and 50 from opening bat Mossie Shiel and 70 from Adam Coughlan took County to 163-2.  Then John Mooney was caught behind off McCallan, and the remaining batsmen couldn't keep up with the rate as County were 258 all put in the 49th over, Gary Kidd taking 4/50.

Up in the wilds of the border between Co. Tyrone and Co. Derry, Leinster nearly made a mess of beating Bond's Glen.  The Bee Gees did well to reach 81-2, but stuggled against Khuda Buksh Zeeshan (2/29) and Peter Byrne (1/31), and couldn't cope with Anton Scholtz (4/13), being all out for 144 in 44.1 overs.  Leinster were 69-1, then 69-4, but Scholtz (37) and Corey Edwards (22) took them to the brink of victory before they lost three more wickets in getting home in the 34th over.

Glendermott were the visitors in the Park, and would have had fond memories of their victory over Phoenix there a couple of years ago.  Ted Williamson (54), Jeremy Bray (28), Ryan Gallagher (75) and Conor Kelly (22) did what a top four is supposed to do, and a late 25* from Vaidyanathan got Phoenix to 288-9.  David Langford-Smith and Osama Khan took early wickets, opener Craig Averill made 34, but it was all over when Steven Smyth was run out for 38, the men from The Rectory all out for 144 in the 34th over.

It looked like being the same story at Anglesea Road, where Merrion racked up 271-8 thanks to 123 from Ben Ackland, 58 from fellow opener Dom Joyce and 42 from Matt Petrie down the order.  Junior McBrine took 3/47 for Donemana.  Junior then scored 31 to take his team to 116-3, but a couple of wickets fell to leave them on 135-5.  Ricky-Lee Dougherty (26) and Dwayne McGarrigle (65) then frightened the life out of Merrion, but the last wicket fell in the 48th over with Donemana 27 runs short.

In Sydney Parade the Pembroke openers Ryan Hopkins (95) and Theo Lawson (88) put on 183 for the first wicket, and 30 from Jono Hickey took them to a 50 over total of 290-5.  A third wicket partnership of 80 between Rankin (63) and Sabir put Bready in a promising position, but thereafter nobody could stay with Sabir, who made 91 out of 208 all out with twelve and a half overs still to go.

On the other side of Park Avenue a second wicket partnersip of 212 between Tom Fisher (127) and Conor Mullen (119) set up a final score of 348-5.  I believe that's Mully's first Senior ton, but it won't be recorded in the LCU stats because the Irish Senior Cup doesn't count!  Crazy?  This is the LCU, after all.  It does appear in my averages.  Eglinton were never at the races, 142 all out in the 38th over, Zufiqar Mansoor taking 4/29 and Greg Lambert 3/39.

The only match scheduled for Sunday was at The Mardyke, where Old Belvedere were the visitors.  I know from the weather radar that it stopped raining in Cork in the morning, but I don't know if there was any play – there's no information on the cricket leinster website.

There's a packed programme this weekend: four ties in the second round of the LHW Senior Cup on Saturday; four Division 1 matches on Sunday; and four Division 2 matches on Sunday.  Can I predict all twelve results incorrectly?  With showers about and D/L in the equation, it's a complete lottery!

Let's start with the Senior Cup.  Rush visit Milverton, and having beaten The Hills first eleven in the previous round, they should be far too good for the Wilberries second string.  Across the Broadmeadow in the Village, North County should similarly be far too good for Malahide.  I shall be at Anglesea Road, where I expect Merrion to be too good for Leinster: follow @baldstu on Twitter to find out.

The fourth tie is in the Park, where Phoenix entertain Clontarf.  Last week's Phoenix would be fancied to beat last week's Clontarf, but the normal Phoenix might struggle against the normal Clontarf.  I go for a 'Tarf win – just.

The reverse match is played in Division 1 on Sunday, where I expect Clontarf's home advantage to allow them to triumph over Phoenix again.  I also go for home wins in the other three matches: North County to beat Merrion; Railway Union to beat YMCA; and The Hills to beat Pembroke.

The Russians take the M7/M8 to the Mardyke, where they will beat Cork County.  North County 2 travel to Cabra, where I fancy Old Belvedere to gain their first victory of the season (unless, of course, they won last Sunday and haven't told anybody about it).  Leinster should beat The Hills 2 at Rathmines, even allowing for the customary collapse.  I shall be in Terenure to watch the home team beat Malahide – follow @baldstu on Twitter.