Rush's best and worst of the 21st century cannot really be taken in isolation. The second half of the 1990s shaped the two decades that were to follow, and that is where we begin our tale.
Rush were admitted into Section B (effectively Division 2) in 1995, after years of performing well at lower levels. They performed admirably in that first season, winning four matches to finish fourth in the seven team league.
Not being a club to rest on their laurels they won Section B at their second attempt, with Naseer Shoukat and Michael Donnelly to the fore, and remarkably started the 1997 season in the top flight. It was to get even better, with Dara Armstong inspiring them to six wins and second place in Section A, a result that has never been bettered (although matched on several occasions).
After that initial burst, Rush then came back to earth with a bump, finishing bottom of Section A in 1998 and then sixth and then seventh in Section B in the next two seasons.
So that is where our tale starts. At the start of the 2001 season Rush were back to rock bottom after the highs of 1997. As can be seen from out graph below, it was to get a bit worse, before a rapid rise in the next five seasons as Rush became once of the best around.
Rush's low - rating 29.705 - ranking - 49th - date June 3 2002 - after 7 wicket loss to CYM
Before we look at where that rapid rise led, we need to go back to 2002. After finishing 2001 bottom of Section B, it would be hoped that they only way was up. That wasn't quite true though, as 2002 didn't start very well either.
By the start of June, Rush had lost their first three matches in the league cup. The Irish Senior Cup wasn't to start for Rush for another week (see below), and so Rush entered the first round of the Leinster Senior Cup low in confidence.
From previous years Conor and Dara Armstrong had moved to North County, and Michael Donnelly had more or less hung up the gloves. Naseer Shoukat was already into his seventh season for Rush, and he had been joined by Saadat Gull, another name that was to become synonymous with Rush's rise over the coming seasons.
In the first round of the Cup, they came up against a distinctly useful CYM side (scorecard on Cricket Europe here), containing luninaries such as Shane Moore, Warren Hinkel, Michael Laz, Conor Kelly Rory Flanagan, Tom O'Neill and a certain Willie Dwyer. Lax, Hinkel and Kelly all took three wickets as Rush were bowled out for only 127, leaving 18 overs unused.
At 45-3, there may have been a hint of nervousness in the CYM dressing room as Shoukat toook the first three wickets to fall. However, the rest of the Rush bowling attack couldn't keep the pressure up, and Conor Kelly finished off a fine all round performance, top scoring with 41*.
That was Rush's fourth straight defeat that season, and the mood can't have been good in Kenure that night. The following week, Rush were to face Clifonville in a first round Irish Senior Cup match that had been postponed from May 25. There was more rain around, and the match was reduced to 10 overs per side. Gavin Morgan was the hero for Rush, as he hit 39 as the Rushians got to 83-5 from ten, and he then took 3-11 as Cliftonville finished ten runs short.
Sensationally, Rush then beat Lisburn, Merrion and Downpatrick to reach the Irish Senior Cup final - played in Clontarf on August 23rd. The dream run came to an end there, as Malahide won by four wickets. Rush went on to finish mid table in the league, and the revival had started.
And it can all be traced back to that performance by Gavin Morgan on a rainy day in Rush.
Rush's high - rating 109.575 - ranking - 6th - date July 16 2008 - after 88 run win over The Hills
The path from low to high was a gradual one. Fintan McAllister arrived via the club's youth teams in 2003, as the team finished third in Section B. And then in 2004, Rush were triumphant, winning Section B, with Shahid Iqbal making his debut.
Brían O'Rourke relocated to Rush from Pembroke in 2005 as Rush secured a mid-table spot in Section A, and when Dan Van Zyl joined in 2006, the jigsaw was nearly complete. That season saw Rush return to second place in the top division for the first time since 1997, as well as reaching another Irish Senior Cup final. Then Lynal Jansen debuted for Rush in 2007, as that second place was repeated.
2008 could have been a brilliant season for Rush if it wasn't for a North County side that was one of the top teams on the island. County knocked Rush out of the League Cup and then the Leinster Senior Cup, and when this high point was acheived Rush were also in another semi final of the Irish Senior Cup (although North County would knock them out of that competition the week after as well). And in their first two league matches, they had beaten Leinster and lost to Merrion - so a good first half of 2008.
They then beat The Hills by 88 runs to get to their highest ever point (scorecard on Cricket Europe here). Remarkably this Hills team contained five Ireland players past, present or future (Sorensen, Dwyer, Archer, Bray and van der Merwe), so beating them was no mean achievement. Shahid (50), McAllister (44) and Shaukat (38) scored the bulk of the runs to get Rush to 215 from 50 overs - not a great score in Milverton.
But the strength of the Rush bowling won the day as the powerful Hills batting was blown away. No one passed 20, as Gull (2-15), Shaukat (2-32), Iqbal (2-26) and van Zyl (2-24) all contributed.
That was as good as it got for Rush. They lost their next five matches to be relegated, and as can be seen from the graph above, have plateaued ever since. They have been a mainstay of Division 2 for the last eight seasons, with the only siverware being the 2015 and 2016 National Cups. Their time will come once more.