With Ringcommons 1, the 2016 Junior Cup champions having moved on to greater things, there is a vacancy to be filled. There are several candidates for the role, and here we look at who is best placed.
The Junior Cup comprises teams in Divisions 11 and 12 of the Open Competitons, and they have been supplemented by two non league teams - Dundrum 3, who are making an appearance after dropping out of competitive cricket in 2016 and YMCA 5 who have decided to concentrate on the Development league.
As you'd expect, the Division 11 teams are the strong favourites. North County 4 of Division 12 host near neighbours The Hills 4, and despite the teams not having met since 2011 The Hills should be the stronger team. They got to the semi final of this competition in 2014, but remarkably don't have a single Cricket Leinster Cup win to their name. Could this year be the year?
Non league YMCA 5 host Terenure 3, and as with our previous cup previews, the teams that are playing solely in the development league may struggle to transfer their cricket to competitive cup cricket. That may be coplete nonsense, but for the same reason as in the other competitions, we'll go with the league side. There is a bit more to it than that thought - Terenure 3 have shared their last four games against YMCA 4, and should be able to get past the fifth string.
Sandyford 2 have drawn a short straw and face one of the strongest teams in the competition, Clontarf 5 in a preliminary round match. Clontarf haven't won the Junior Cup since 1976, but this could be their year after reaching the semi final in 2014 and 2015. Sandyford have only won one of their last four cup ties, and this would be an upset should the Marlay Park side be able to pull it off. The winners play Merrion 7, and with Merrion havign two sides in this year's Junior Cup, we will look at their ties together.
There is a severe problem towards the bottom of Merrion's teams - a split personality between Merrion 6 and 7. The 6th string play several leagues higher than their junior brethren, but their cup exploits are the opposite of that that you'd imagine. Although Merrion 6 had a great cup run ten years ago, winning five cups and culminating in the 2006 Intermediate Cup, there has been nothing since and they have gone out in the first round in each of the last three years. The 7th team which should be much weaker, has gone out in the same cup competitions and generally blown the opposition away. They have won eight of their last ten cup matches, winning the 2014 Minor Cup and the 2015 Junior Cup. But we will make an assumption - that Merrion will manage to get the stronger team playing for the 6th team, and that the 6ths will this year succeed. That would mean that the winners of Clontarf 5 and Sandyford 2 should beat Merrion 7, and Merrion 6 should over come Phoenix 5 in the bottom of the draw. Phoenix 5 have similar cup form to Merrion 6, losing their last three matches, but Merrion will be the favourites.
Balbriggan 3 and Swords 2 play each other in the next tie, and are two teams that have been very close to each other in league position. Swords' cup form has been better (winning the lower Minor Cup in 2015), but that has to be weighed against the dominant form that all Balbriggan sides showed last year. Balbriggan came out on top of a T20 match between the teams last year, and we think there willbe a repeat of that result this year.
Civil Service 3 of Division 12 host North Kildare of Division 11, and with not much between the respective records of these two, it may be that the higher league team has more chance of winning. Service won their last four games against North Kildare 3, but the last of those meetings was back in 2012, and they shouldn't have too much relevance this year.
Leinster 5 play Ashbourne 1 in an intriguing tie. Leinster's lower teams went into freefall last year, but surely can't be that bad again. Ashbourne had a stunning season across the league and cup, but their two wins against Leinster were against their 7ths. Despite that, Ashbourne have a pretty good chance of beating the Rathmines side.
The final game is a real humdinger between Lucan 1 and Rush 3. Both teams play in Division 11, and in the four meetings between the two sides in the last two seasons, both teams have two wins. Although it won't count for much on June 18, Rush won the Junior Cup in 2014, but the reason we are tipping Rush is that in a 50/50 encounter, the bigger club Rush is more likely to be able to put on a full strength team than a Lucan side that has a much smaller squad. However, a full strength Lucan could still advance.
The final is on August 20th in Terenure, and the finalists will be between Rush 3, Clontarf 5, Merrion 6 and The Hills 4, with perhaps Clontarf 5 lifting the trophy.