Mervue Utd suffer first loss in year but title looks a certainty

Despite losing their first league game in well over a year, it is still an almost accepted conclusion that Mervue United are well  on the way to retaining  their Western Hygiene  Supplies Premier Division title.However behind them lies a potential trail of destruction as any of the other nine sides in the division could find themselves sucked into a relegation battle.

At the moment, Hibernians lie in second position and while that location might normally indicate a challenge for title honours, the reality is that they are closer to the relegation area than they are to Mervue United, whom they trail by 14 points.

At the bottom Corrib Celtic and Salthill Devon have pretty much propped up the table throughout the campaign, but some positive results in recent weeks have seen them close the gap on some teams that were at one stage in mid-table comfort.

With both of them winning at the weekend, that comfort zone is certainly gone as five teams are separated by just two points just above them. Corrib Celtic still have some work to do to escape, but they are a good footballing side and certainly have the ability to beat any team, as they indicated in their victory over Corrib Rangers on Sunday, but seven points adrift with six games remaining is a big ask. 

While Corrib Celtic have a lot to do to escape, Salthill Devon are certainly making a fight for it as they are unbeaten in their last four league games, picking up eight points in the process.

Even Athenry’s win over Mervue on Sunday that moved them up four places in the table, was seen as a relief to Gabriel Glavin’s charges and moved them away from third from bottom of the table.

Corrib Rangers, NUI Galway and Oranmore are the other sides in the mid-table positions and only the Students were winners over the weekend, and the trio await an anxious conclusion to the season.

One team that certainly will be looking over their shoulder is East United, as they lie just above second from bottom Devon. The Castle Park-based team were impressive early season performers and while only the top two have lost less games than them, their six draws from 13 games is the highest on record.

As they struggle to score goals and with just three draws since their last league victory in October, they look like they will be in trouble if the progress of the bottom two continues.

Last season both the title race and the relegation issue were decided on the last day of the campaign and while the challenge for honours in the current campaign looks a foregone conclusion, the relegation issue will certainly focus the minds of a number of clubs in the months ahead.

For more, read this week's Connacht Sentinel.