And speaking of winners there’s nothing like putting your head on the block and being a tipster for the day. No offence to anyone and my tips have no bearing on the results other than to make a few people try harder to prove me wrong!
Good luck to all the teams. This is the start of a long journey that culminates in a great day out on 24 August. You haven’t arrived in Irish Cricket until you win the Irish Senior Cup and if you are an NCU club you have it all to do because until Waringstown shook the monkey off the NCU back two years ago, our record since the start of the Millennium was dreadful.
Will that change in 2013? Who knows, but here’s how I see the 1st Round going:
Bonds Glen v Waringstown- WARINGSTOWN
Bready v Lurgan- BREADY
Carrickfergus v Cork County-CARRICKFERGUS
CIYMS v Glendermott- CIYMS
Clontarf v Ballymena- CLONTARF
Coleraine v Merrion- COLERAINE
Cork Harlequins v Fox Lodge-FOX LODGE
CSNI v Strabane- CIVIL SERVICE NORTH
Donemana v Terenure- DONEMANA
Downpatrick v Railway Union-RAILWAY UNION
Eglinton v Phoenix- PHOENIX
Leinster v North Down- NORTH DOWN
Lisburn v YMCA (at YMCA)- YMCA
North County v Brigade- NORTH COUNTY
Pembroke v Creevedonnell- PEMBROKE
The Hills v Instonians – INSTONIANS
These results would leave six teams each from Leinster and the NCU and four from the North-West going through. The toughest call is obviously The Hills against Instonians. The holders have home advantage, but the Old Boys have a strong team this season and are well suited to cup cricket. I think they’ll get the better of the Hills if they rise to the occasion. But bookmakers make a great living out of proving people wrong so don’t be surprised if a few upsets prove this pundit wrong.
Clarence Hiles
Editor
