What a difference a year makes as the 2012 champions Leinster were relegated after a campaign which failed to ignite at any stage.

The defending champions were barely recognisable from the all conquering champions of the previous year, losing a number of crucial players to emigration, retirement and movement.

The Rathmines club used 19 players in total with eight taking the field ten times or more.

The club won three and lost ten of their 14 league games to finish 7th (relegated) on 90 points - two above fellow relegation side Phoenix.

The cups offered no respite whatsoever as a century from Adam Couglan saw them suffer an 111 run loss to North County in the first round of the Senior Cup/

They failed to get out of the group stages of the Alan Murray T20 Cup - although they did win twice.

The Irish Senior Cup saw the club battle manfully before losing to NCU outfit North Down by five wickets in a tough battle.

As a unit, the Leinster batting wasn't strong enough as the club managed just 10 fifties and no hundreds, although seven players scored between 200-319 runs - nobody managing to get anywhere near the top 20 LCU aggregate list.

Stephen Moreton topped their aggregates with 319 at 24.54, ahead of Adam Ward 307, and Craig Mallon 301.

Hugh MacDonnell made 251, while Richard Forrest 218, JP O'Dwyer 206 and Pete Johnston 201 all passed the 200 mark.

There were two decent performers with the ball - Bilal Azhar took 24 wickets at 24.00 to occupy 13th spot in the LCU top 20, while Stephen Moreton's 23 victims at 25.70 was good enough for 15th place.

There was a big gap between those two and the rest, with Joe Carroll 11, High MacDonnell 10, and Gareth Delany 9, the best of the chasing pack.

There's no doubt a club of Leinster's stature and quality will bounce back, and an immediate return to top flight cricket won't be too far away in the coming season.

BATTING

  • Stephen Moreton 319 runs at 24.54
  • Adam Ward 307 at 34.11
  • Craig Mallon 301 at 21.50
  • Hugh MacDonnell 251 at 17.93
  • Richard Forrest 218 at 36.33
  • JP O'Dwyer 206 at 15.85
  • Pete Johnston 203 at 22.56

BOWLING

  • Bilal Azhar 24 wickets at 24.00
  • Stephen Moreton 23 at 25.70
  • Joe Carroll 11 at 30.91
  • Hugh MacDonnell 10 at 43.20
  • Gareth Delany 9 at 53.67