Our final preview for the 2015 season's Open Comps Cup Competitions is here, with a look at the Leinster Senior Cup.
The top level of club cricket in the province is well covered, with plenty of analysis of how clubs compare with each other. Our very own All Ireland rankings give a good idea of how a club is performing, and coupled with how a club has performed in the Senior Cup in recent years, we can come up with a pretty good idea of who the favourites for the 2015 Leinster Senior Cup will be.
Four of the six look very much if they will go the way of the favourites, but two games look very close to call, with 4th ranked Pembroke travelling to 5th ranked The Hills, and Railway Union (8th in our rankings) travelling down to Cork to take on a Cork County side that could surprise.
| Club | Cup Honours | Cup form | First round opponents | All Ireland Ranking (in Leinster) | Cup ranking | Overall ranking |
| Clontarf | 1943, 1950, 1969, 1992, 1995, 2000, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2014 (12) Senior Cup; 1898, 1905, 1906 Inter Cup | Supreme cup specialists. Champions in 2012 and 2014, losing QFists in 2011 and SF in 2013. (9-2 record since 2011) | Haven't played Leinster since 2012, with two league games that season being shared | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| YMCA | 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1994, 2001, 2002, 2013 (10) Senior Cup | Surprisingly disappointing, apart from their win in 2013. First round losers in 2011 and 2014. Losing Qfists in 2012 (4-3 record since 2011) | Four league meetings with Phoenix, with two each in 2011 and 2013. YM lead 3-1, with Phoenix's last win being in June 2011 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| Merrion | 1940, 1960, 2011 (3) Senior Cup | Winners in 2011 but have struggled since. Since that epic final win in 2011, they have only won one cup match - last year's QF against Pembroke (5-3) | Bye to the quarter finals | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| Pembroke | 1935, 1944, 1946, 1954, 1957, 1972, 1974, 1980, 1983, 1993, 1997, 1999 (12) Senior Cup | Runners up in 2012 and 2013 and lost to Merrion in Rd 1 and QF in 2011 and 2014. (7-4) | Eight meetings in the last four seasons against The Hills with the series evenly split at 4-4. The Hills' last win was back in August 2013, with Pembroke winning the last two | 5 | 4 | 4 |
| The Hills | 1989, 1996, 2005, 2006 (4) Senior Cup; 1982 Senior 2 Cup; 1974 Middle Cup; 1972, 1973 Inter Cup ; 1971 Junior Cup | So near but yet so far. Losing SFists in 2012 and 2014. Only 1st round exit was in 2011. (5-4) | Eight meetings in the last four seasons against Pembroke with the series evenly split at 4-4. The Hills' last win was back in August 2013, with Pembroke winning the last 2 | 4 | 6 | 5 |
| Malahide | 1959, 1971 (2) Senior Cup; 1945, 1947, 1948 Senior 2 Cup; 1941, 1943 Inter Cup; 1930 Junior Cup | A better record than most Division 1 clubs (6-4) Runners up in 2014, and have won at least one game every year | Malahide lead the series against Rush 5-4. However in three matches last year (two league, and one T20) Malahide won them all | 7 | 5 | 6 |
| North County | 2003 (1) Senior Cup; 1987, 1989 Senior 2 Cup | Since being runners up in 2011, have not been as good as they would have hoped. First round losers in 2012, and losing QFists in 2013 and 2014 (5-4) | Two T20 clashes against Balbriggan in the last two years, with North County winning both | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Railway Union | 1967, 2010 (2) Senior Cup; 1912, 1918 Inter Cup | One SF appearance in 2012, but nothing great apart from that. (3-4) | No meetings between Railway and Cork County | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Phoenix | 1937, 1938, 1939, 1954, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1951, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1982 (15) Senior Cup | A win over Balbriggan in 2014 and Railway in 2011 (2-4) | Four league meetings with YMCA, with two each in 2011 and 2013. YM lead 3-1, with Phoenix's last win being in June 2011 | 10 | 9 | 9 |
| Leinster | 1936, 1941, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1968, 1981, 1985, 1998 (10) Senior Cup | Last Cup win was back in May 2011 against YMCA (1-4) | The two league games against Clontarf in 2012 (their last meeting) were shared | 9 | 11 | 10 |
| Rush | 1990 Senior 2 Cup; 1945 Inter Cup; 1933, 1937, 1938, 1939 Junior Cup | Got to the SFs in 2011, but have not won a game since (2-4) | Malahide lead the series 5-4. although in three matches last year (two league, and one T20) Malahide won them all | 14 | 9 | 11 |
| Cork County | Have lost in the first round every year (inc 2013 Senior 2 Cup) 0-2 | No meetings between the clubs | 11 | 13 | 12 | |
| Balbriggan | 2010, 2012 Senior 2 Cup; 1985, 1986 Inter Cup; 1967 Junior Cup | 3rd season in Senior Cup and yet to win a game. 2012 Senior 2 Cup champions (0-2) | Three matches against North County. Beat County 2 in 2012, but lost two T20 games since against County 1 | 12 | 13 | 13 |
| Terenure | 1961, 1966, 1967, 1975, 1981 Senior 2 Cup ; 1949 Inter Cup | 1st round exit in each of the last four seasons (0-4) | Bye to the Quarter Final | 13 | 12 | 13 |