Round Two - Saturday May 8th (Reserve Friday 4th June)
Phoenix v Glendermott
Glendermott beat St Johnston (at home) by 141 runs last weekend but the weekend previous lost to Fox Lodge, away, by 8 wickets. Phoenix are capable of securing a victory here.
Railway Union v Rush
Cover Point's feature match. Railway have named Kevin O'Brien and Trent Johnstom in their squad though it is doubtful whether they will return in time. A good match in prospect but I expect the greater all round strength of Railway to prevail.
Railway squad of 13: Conor Mullen, Kenny Carroll, Tommy Fisher, Graham McDonnell, Kevin O'Brien, Trent Johnston,Mo Tariq,Saad Ullah,Carlo Rendell, Patrick Conliffe, Mark Ingram, Greg Lambert, Dhruv Kapoor
Leinster v Terenure
Leinster's first competitive outing of the season. Not ideal preparation against a feisty Terenure team. Can't see an upset here though. Leinster to win.
Leinster: Scholtz, Jones, O'Dwyer, Mallon, P Byrne, Dockrell, Brathwaite, Lucas, Miley, McConnell (wkt), McDonnell
Pembroke v North Down - being played at Oakhill CC
Being played at Oakhill in County Wicklow, Pembroke will need to be at their best to fend off a determined North Down side who have named Peter Connell in their squad. However he is likely to miss out along with leading batsman Johnny Terrett (injured)
North Down: P Shields (Capt), R Haire, M Moreland, A Sutherland, N Russell, P Connell, A Haire, D Graham, D Harding, T Khan, G McKenna
North County v Eglinton
Though this is County's first competitive action this season and Botha and Mooney are likely to be absent I don't expect Eglinton who have lost theit two opening matches this season - to Donemana by 185 runs and Brigade by 5 wickets - to trouble the Balrothery team
Brigade v Instonians
An intriguing match. Though Brigade have won their two matches in Senior 1 Instonians will present a stern test. Instonians are unlikely to have Andrew White available but have one of the strongest batting line-ups around with Rory McCann, John Stevenson, James Shannon and professional Davy Jacobs.
Bready v YMCA
Bready have started with a win (over St Johnston by 4 wickets) and a loss (to Limavady by 7 wickets). Though YMCA are somewhat depleted, in the likes of Strydom and Parkinson they have enough power to handle Bready.
YMCA: R.Strydom (capt), D.A.Lewis, J.N.Parkinson, A.J.Short (wkt), E.Ahmed, S.Mcauley, S.Walsh U.Jehangir, P.Flanagan, J.Smith, R.Bailey.
Team includes young Leinster U15 squad players Padriac Flanagan and James Smith. Another Bailey, 17 year old Ryan sees first team action. Not available: Dunlop (injured), Hosford & Harte (school commitments), Garth (exams), Wilson-Moore, McCready, Beacroft and Nandi.
Strabane v Merrion
A tough match for Merrion's competitive start to the season but though they will be missing Jeff Short and Damien Poder, John Anderson's men can be optimistic about turning over a Strabane team that succumbed only last weeked by 6 wickets at home to Coleraine. Much may depend on Merrion's new pro Greg Clarence. See interview with Clarence at this link: http://www.cover-point.com/post/60-Seconds-with-Merrion-professional-Greg-Clarence.aspx
Merrion: Dom Joyce,Gus Joyce, Greg Clarence, John Anderson (capt), Kade Beasley,Tyrone Kane, Cillian O'Donoghue, Neil Brown, Angus Fleming, Alex Chetkovich, Titikish Patel
Coleraine v Clontarf (Sunday at 11am)
Coleraine have started the season impressively recording two away victories - at Strabane and Donemana. Clontarf will need to be at close to their best to win. The extra day increases Cusack's chances of playing.
St Johnston v Malahide (11.30am)
St Johnston have lost their opening two matches this season (last week by 141 runs to Glendermott) so Malahide can travel with optimism to Donegal.
Lisburn v Limavady
Neither side has started the season strongly but though Lisburn pro Yasas Tillakaratne is expected to turn out for the first time this season I would expect Limavady to prevail here.
Civil Service North v Cork County
Preview is at this link: http://www.cover-point.com/post/ISC-2010-Cork-County-take-on-CSNI.aspx
Carrickfergus v The Hills
The Hills should be too strong for this Carrickfergus side who so far this season have won one (3 wickets over Lurgan) and lost one (to Waringstown) by 8 wickets
CIYMS v Donemana
With CIYMS sitting on top of the Ulster Bank Premier League having won their opening three matches and with Craig McMillan expected to play for them, CIYMS will start the match as warm favourites. Don't be surprised if Azhar Shaffique's men turn out to be party-poopers
Ballymena v Fox Lodge
A close match is expected. With home advantage and David Kennedy and pro Kaushik Aphale expected to return, Ballymena may just have the edge.
Old Belvedere v Waringstown
Old Belvedere did well in the preliminary round to beat Downpatrick but even with home advantage I would expect Kyle McCallan and co to be too strong for Sameer Dutt's men.
