I was tempting fate last week. After Instonians had moved into the number one spot on our rankings, we mused as to whether their poor record in the Irish Senior Cup meant they should have an asterisk next to their record. Our preview said that, "Their only black mark on their record has been their consistent failure in the Irish Senior Cup. Last year they had the misfortune to lose a bowl out to Railway Union, but in previous years they have lost to The Hills (2013) and YMCA (2012) in early rounds. They have another chance to right that record tomorrow, when they play Malahide (ranked 16th) in their delayed first round match."
And of course that proved to be quite close to the mark, as Malahide completed an excellent (and convincing) victory over Instonians as another two Leinster sides got through to the next round of the island's premier competition. Malahide's win meant that they moved up a place from 15th to 14th, although the big news was at the top.
Instonian's loss saw them slip a place to 2nd, and with YMCA losing to Cork County in a Leinster Division 1 match, Clontarf are elevated to number one. It is fitting reward for a team that have always been there and there abouts in cup competitions, lifting the 2013 Irish Senior Cup, and 2012 and 2014 Leinster Senior Cups in the process. They are also many people's favourites for multiple trophies this season, and their stay at number one spot could be a good bit longer than Instonians' one week.
Eglinton and Cork County were the big movers during the week. Eglinton beat Mckamore in the Ulster Cup, to move from 24th to 20th, whilst Cork County's win was a higher profile, and famous victory over Leinster League Division 1 champions, YMCA. That moved the Munster side up from 31 to 26.
It wasn't quite so rosy for Phoenix who were the week's biggest faller, having another disappointing week in a season that has fallen well below expectations. They lost again, this time to Balbriggan in Division 2 and dropped from 21 to 25.
One other nugget of information that may interest someone (or no one). In an effort to increase the number of clubs that are included in the rankings, and league match outside of the top two divisions (in NCU, North West or LCU) between two teams that have a full ranking, will also be included. That means that the NCU Division 2 clash between Laurelvale and Holywood is included - Laurelvale move up a couple of places on the back of their win.