Division 5 stats
Leading all time run scorer (2011-2015) - Brian Gilmore (Malahide) - 1253 runs @ 36.85
Most runs in a Division 5 season - Hamish Manks (Malahide) - 575 runs (2015)
Highest score - Nicky Kenny - 160* - Merrion 3 vs Railway Union 3 - Park Avenue - 14 May 2011
Leading all time wicket taker (2011-2015) - Conor Gibbons (Malahide) - 69 wkts @ 18.97
Most wickets in a Division 5 season - Adam Craig (Clontarf) - 27 wkts (2012)
Best bowling - Michael Cotter - 7-30 - Terenure 2 vs Phoenix 3 - Terenure - 10 May 2015
Most matches - Conor Gibbons (Malahide) - 48 - (2012-2015)
Highest team score - 406-8 - Mullingar 1 vs Terenure 2 - Terenure - 14 June 2015
Lowest team score - 29 all out - North County 3 vs Clontarf 3 - Castle Avenue - 5 May 2012
There is no getting away from the fact that this year's Division 5 is distinctly odd. Phoenix 3 and Merrion 4 filled the top two places last year, but due to their club's higher teams, both have stayed in exactly the same place. Towards the bottom, Mullingar 1 finished 7th, but stayed up, with the higher Railway Union 3 falling to Division 6. It has left six teams doing battle once again, along with the two teams promoted from Division 6 - Knockharley 1 and Clontarf 3.
So bearing in mind that very little has changed since last year, we only need to take into account how a club has attracted or lost new members, and how the two new clubs will manage.
First up are Mullingar 1. The team had a poor year last year, and perhaps we are letting that unduly influence us. There may be a good few new members that have walked in off the street, and the fantastic youth within the club may have improved a good bit over the winter. But without any conclusive proof, it is difficult to predict a position that is very different from last year. The team was fairly consistent from 2011-2014 ,and would have been a solid top half team. But that big drop last year could be the sign that relegation may be around the corner. We'd love to be proved wrong, but Mullingar 1 are predicted to finish 8th.
Knockharley 1 are promoted as Division 6 champions. They have turned themselves around in a comparatively short space of time, moving up the equivalent of two divisions in five season. They haven't played against any of the other teams in the division, apart from a solitary match against Clontarf 3, which they won. But all that hides the fact that in order to avoid relegation, they need to improve on their best ever finish by an extra three places. And without an extra couple of good first team players (which they may or may not have), we're predicting 7th place.
Being part of Leinster 3 hasn't been much fun for the last 10 years, unless you happen to be a fan of a certain Marquess. Every season brings pain of some sort, with a brief respite at the end as relegation is narrowly avoided yet again. And as we have seen, with not a great deal changing from last year, Leinster are likely to have to go through the mangle yet again. The lowest they have finished since 2011 is 39th, and that would be enough to go down. It could well be the Great Escape Part XII, if as we think Leinster finish 6th.
Malahide 3 won this league in 2014, and haven't done a great deal wrong before or since. The club has had a few high profile departures over the winter, which may weaken the 3rds a little bit, but it is unlikely to be catastrophic. It promises to be a classically mid table kind of year. Possibly top half, but more than likely in the bottom half. 5th place.
It wasn't too long ago that Pembroke 3 were the powerhouse amongst 3rd teams in the province. They've slipped a good bit to be the 5th best (behind YMCA, Merrion, Phoenix and Malahide), but as we have to keep to the narrative that Division 5 will be much the same as last year unless something major has happened, Pembroke are going to be a solid top half of the table team, without threatening the very top. 4th.
The top three sees our one tip for a surprise. There is no way on earth that Clontarf 3 should be as poor as they have been in the last two seasons. The first and second teams are amongst the best around, and back in 2013, so were the 3rds. But after two poor years, they have slipped badly, and come into this campaign as the lowest ranked team, based on them being runners up in Division 6 last year. But surely they have to improve? 3rd place which seems like a surprise, but in reality is just the old order being returned.
Merrion's strength in depth has now been discussed far too much, so we won't go into again. But as fleetingly discussed at the top of the article, Merrion 4 would be playing in a division higher if their 3rds weren't in Division 4. They have improved every year since 2011 when they were 47th in the province to last year's 34th. And nothing much has changed in Merrion over the winter, so we have to go with the runners up spot.
And on to our tip for the Division 5 title, which to no one's surprise is the 2015 champions Phoenix 3. They won all 12 matches they played last year, but couldn't be promoted as their 2nds were relegated to Division 5. So already they should be the strongest team, and to that you can add several new players to the 1st team, which will filter down to the 3rds. It's not very inciteful, it's not very exciting, and probably won't lead to a Pulitzer Prize, but the climax of this article is that last year's winner of Division 5 will do it again this year.
The first game is this Saturday, when Merrion 4 will host Pembroke 3.