A battle for all the marbles! The clash of the century! A war to end all wars! Well, not exactly.

Sunday's feature First Division match, however, between defending champions and league leaders Dandy Town and second place Somerset does carry great significance with regard to the title.

The Hornets hold a slender one point advantage over Somerset and are two points ahead of third place Boulevard with three matches -- including Sunday's encounter at St. John's field -- remaining.

A win for Town all but guarantees them a second straight league championship and practically extinguishes the Trojans' chances.

Conversely, a loss throws the championship race wide open, while a draw would leave Somerset needing to win their final two games and get help from future Town opponents -- Town play BAA and PHC in their final two fixtures.

"We need two points on Sunday if we want to win the league, so it's a very important match,'' said Somerset coach Josef Gooden. "If you want to win the league, you have to be able to beat the champions.'' Thus far the west enders have had little trouble accomplishing the feat, having got the better of Town on three out of four occasions the pair have met, with the other match drawn.

Included was the wresting of the Dudley Eve Trophy from Town's clutches and this is something not forgotten in the Hornets' camp.

Also to be noted is that Town have not lost at home all season, a streak they wish to continue.

"If they think they can come down to St. John's and have it easy they're going to be surprised,'' said Town assistant coach Anthony Manders. "It's definitely going to be a battle and those three (previous) games mean nothing.

"My guys have to have the will to win. We're defending the title and can't let it slip away, we've already lost one trophy to Somerset.'' Gooden was in agreement with his counterpart that the three prior triumphs would have little bearing on Sunday's clash.

And while he thought the game was crucial, the race would not end before five o'clock on Sunday afternoon.

"I think it will go down to the wire, there's still Boulevard and (North) Village lurking out there,'' said Gooden.

"We just have to go there and do the job at hand...it doesn't matter if we've beaten them 20 times before, they're a good team and dangerous.

Asked if a loss would cancel any dreams of winning the league Gooden replied: "Not necessarily. It'd be very difficult, with two games left, but we wouldn't be totally out of the picture.'' Both will be squarely in focus come Sunday afternoon, but the question remains who will be smiling for the camera when the final whistle blows.

ANTHONY MANDERS -- "It's going to be a battle''.