Clive Colleran and his Leinster team will strive to emulate the 11-year-old achievement of Phoenix, when they take on Limavady in the final of the Royal Liver Assurance Irish Senior Cup at the Brigade club's Beechgrove grounds in Derry today.

In 1986, Phoenix became the first - and so far, only - Southern club to capture Irish cricket's sole all-island club competition. The Northern clubs' monopoly is emphasised by the fact that Leinster clubs have made it to only five finals in the event's 15-year-old existence, and Phoenix alone carried off the trophy.

The Rathmines club is ranked among that quintet, having both staged and contested the final exactly a year ago. But home advantage didn't pay off on that occasion, as Leinster lost by eight wickets to Brigade.

Today, Colleran will be hoping that Joe and Johnny Byrne will perform as effectively with the bat as they did a year ago, when they scored 58 and 53, respectively. But good performances all round, with bat and ball and in the field, will be essential today if Leinster are to thwart a rampant Limavady side, skippered by Ireland opener, Decker Curry.

Limavady will be going for the treble today, having already won the North West League and Cup. The only other club to achieve that particular distinction was Waringstown, back in 1992.

Curry, who with six, is the top century-maker in the Royal Liver Cup, will be a key man today. And so will his Ireland colleague, Gordon Cooke, who last month, at nearby Eglinton, took two Australian wickets for 65, before contributing a useful 26 when the home team batted.

Play begins at noon.

Limavady: D Curry (capt), D Cooke (wicketkeeper), I McGregor, A Christie, G Cooke, M McDaid, R McDaid, R Tinney, R Christie, V McDaid, R Kerr.

Leinster: C Colleran (capt), R Henson (wicketkeeper), J V Byrne, M Jones, J E Byrne, P Johnson, R Waddell, P Byrne, T McDonnell, R McDonnell, J Craven.