As they anticipate today's Lewis Traub League final against Malahide at Rathmines, superstitious followers of Merrion may well suffer a few frissons of anxiety, thanks to the presence of one Alan Brophy in the opposing ranks. The pinnacle of this young man's sporting career to date was the day a few years back when he captured all 10 wickets in a match, a notable feat which he achieved against - you've guessed it - Merrion.
Brophy gets a recall to Malahide's first XI because David Fleming is away on holiday. Lightning rarely strikes twice, but his presence may prove to be a psychological boost for the cricketers of The Village.
Merrion show just one change from the side which saw off The Hills in last Sunday's semi-final. Richard Dowse returns to resume the captaincy in place of Philip Quinlan.
At Milverton, Damien Joyce, Adam Thomas, Robbie Stanton and Gus Joyce all batted extremely well, while that prolific wicket-taker, Angus Fleming, did the most damage with the ball. Similar efforts today would make Merrion hard to defeat, though undoubtedly Brian Gilmore and his Malahide team-mates will have other ideas.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YVIRIOZQ35EWRPZXR27KGMO6YU.png)