Railway Union - a club that has had everything over the first seventeen years of the 21st century. Success and failure, celebration and heartbreak. There have been four men's internationals in that time all of who appear in these featured matches - Kenny Carroll, Roger Whelan, Niall O'Brien and Kevin O'Brien. They have won Irish and Leinster Senior Cups, and a Division 1 title but have also experienced the lows of relegation from Division 1 in 2001, 2004, 2007 and 2016.
Their path over that period can be seen on the graph below. A struggling team in 2001 then led to a team that did well in 2002 and 2003, winning the league cup and promotion. Relegation followed in 2004, before a ground breaking season in 2006.
That season went down in history, as Railway won the Irish Senior cup for the first (and only) time, doing so as a Division 2 team. They also won the League Cup, completing a remarkable treble.
But there is no getting away from the fact that playing in Division 2 meant that that team couldn't be classed as one of the best. Following a further relegation in 2007, the Railway Union team of 2010 and 2011 finally fulfilled its potential, becoming the best on the island. For more details, read on!
Railway Union's low - rating 52.148 - ranking - 41st - date Aug 10 2001 - after 4 wicket loss to Pembroke
Those of you who have read all the articles in this series will know that cricket in Leinster in 2001 was not of that high a quality (at least compared to the North West and NCU). And with Railway Union limping to a mid table position in Division 2 (or Section B as it was then known) at the end of the season, there was a good chance that this had to be Railway's lowest point.
The team was full of familiar names. A 19 year old Niall O'Brien opened the batting in this game and brother Ger O'Brien captained. Mo Tariq was at the start of a legendary Railway career, and there were a host of players to have come through Railway's youth system, such as Roger Whelan, Gareth and Kenny Carroll, and Ross Wynne.
But for whatever reason, the team under-performed. It can be difficult to find reasons by poring over scorecards, but it looks as if the team was short on experience, with not too many in the 28-33 year old age group that is crucial in forming successful teams.
By this stage of the season, Railway had crashed out of the League Cup, winning only one from five, although that should be weighed against getting to the semi finals of the Leinster Senior Cup, thanks to a brilliant 94 from Mo Tariq to beat North County in the quarters. They also went out of the Irish Senior Cup in the second round to Lisburn after beating Ardmore in the first round. The season never got going though, and this loss to Pembroke (scorecard from Cricket Europe here) was the team's fourth in a row in the league.
On a pitch favouring spinners, Peter Byrne took 4-35 and Richard 'Wiz' Hastie 4-42 as Railway were bowled out for 126 - Niall O'Brien with 28 and Young with 42 were the only batsmen to emerge with any credit. Pembroke stuttered a bit, and at 88-6 Railway had a chance, before the Peters Davy (45*) and Byrne (10*) steadied the ship, seeing Pembroke home by four wickets with 16 overs to spare. Roger Whelan was the only bowler to be able to hold his head up high - 3-38 from 15 overs.
Railway finished the season well, winning four of the next five to start the path to being number one in Ireland. The one match they did lose in that next five is worth a footnote. Railway scored 351 all out to lose by 3 runs to Leinster in what we think is the highest losing score in Leinster Senior Cricket. [Gerry Byrne, Cricket Leinster statistician adds, "There was an interesting element to that match. It was a 55 overs a side game but, under the regulations at the time, Railway were penalised 4 overs so they had to chase the Leinster score of 354-3 in only 51 overs. They lost their last wicket off the last ball of the 51st Over. I understand the aggregate total of the runs scored in the match (705) was I believe the highest aggregate in a league limited overs match, and I am not sure that it has been passed since."]
Railway Union's high - rating 120.120 - ranking - 1st - date Aug 26 2010 - after 53 run win over Merrion
2006 may hold special memories in Railway for it contained the club's Irish Senior Cup win. But in terms of an overall strength of a team, the 2010/2011 team is the best of the 21st century.
The honours board reveals a 2010 return of runners up in Division 1, Leinster Senior Cup champions and runners up in the Irish Senior Cup, whilst in 2011, the club won Division 1. On our rankings, Railway became the third Leinster club to be number one on the island (after North County and Clontarf), reaching top spot for the first time on June 12 2010. Over the next year, they returned to number one a further three times, tussling for the top with Limavady, The Hills, North Down and North County. The longest stay at number one was 26 days in July and August 2010, and that period gives us the best Railway team. In total, Railway Union were number one for 53 days, putting them ninth on the post 2000 list.
This match (here on Cricket Europe) saw a comprehensive win over Merrion, on another Park Avenue pitch favouring spin. The difference between this match and the 2001 low may have been that Railway had a spinner to exploit the conditions. After Railway were bowled out for 139 (former Railway player John Anderson taking 4-12, Kenny Carroll top scoring with 34), Merrion were in with a shout at 66-2. But Mo Tariq took the crucial wickets of Greg Clarence and Kade Beasley, and Greg Lambert kept it simple, bowling stump to stump to take 4-7 from six overs.
Kenny Carroll and Mo Tariq were the two players to have played both featured matches. The high point also mainly featured Railway produced players, with Kevin O'Brien, Conor Mullen, Mark Ingram and Patrick Conliffe all playing. On top of that, there were some quality imports - Tom Fisher, Tim Townend, Lambert, Saad Ullah and Carlo Rendell.
The team largely stayed together to win the league in 2011. The Railway Union team of 2010 is ranked as the 15th best Leinster team this century and the 39th best on the island.