<Bz11>A betting man's money must surely be on North Village to repeat as Premier Division champions.<Bz10.5>The in-form Rams are peaking at just the right moment following recent successes over Somerset Trojans and Boulevard —
With the two relegation spots determined last weekend — as expected Paget and St. David’s are returning to the First Division next season — the interest has switched to the league race which is promising to go right down to the wire.
Four teams are still in contention but that should be reduced to three after Sunday’s lone match between Somerset Trojans and Devonshire Cougars. It is a make-up match from January 20 and is one that both teams will be desperate to win. Cougars have been tucked in just behind the leaders for most of the season — and now is the time for the 2004-05 league champions to make their move if they are to win a second title.
The west enders were dealt a major blow to their title aspirations with a recent 5-0 home loss to Village and now they trail the new leaders by eight points but with two games in hand. The first one, this weekend, is one they have to win and the second, against St. David’s, is one they should win. However, even two wins there may not be enough as Village have the inside track going into the home stretch. They should beat Paget when league action resumes on March 4 and if Cougars take maximum points from their next two matches against Somerset and St. David’s it could come down to a winner-take-all situation on March 11 when Village close out their season with a short trip to Devonshire Rec. Boulevard still cannot be ruled out but time is running out for them to halt a slump since Christmas which has seen them take just five points off five games. Their main rivals slowly chipped away at their six-point lead when the league campaign resumed last month and now Boulevard find themselves having to beat mid-table Dandy Town and PHC if they are to have any chance of landing their first league title since 1995.
Who meets who
North Village: Paget (h), Dev.Cougars (a).
Boulevard: Dandy Town (h), PHC (h).
Dev.Cougars: Somerset (a), St. David’s (h), North Village (h)
Somerset: Dev.Cougars (h), St. David’s (h), PHC (a), Dandy Town (a)
[bul] Ireland Rangers and Devonshire Colts can wrap up the two promotion spots this weekend and thus reclaim the Premier Division spots they lost to Paget and St. David’s almost a year ago.
The First Division will see a full slate of matches and long-time leaders Ireland Rangers are just a point away from clinching their second promotion to the top flight and will be looking to do it at home to Prospect on Sunday. Colts, three points behind in second place but with a game in hand, should also be good for three points when they travel to Wellington Oval to meet St. George’s.
A Colts win, combined with a Southampton Rangers draw or defeat against Somerset Eagles at White Hill will settle the two promotion issues. In the other matches Social Club will be hoping for their first win of the season when they host X-Roads at Bernard Park while bottom team Hamilton Parish are away to Wolves. All matches start at 3.00.
