Four teams remain locked in the race for the title as with three games left we are in the business end, while at the bottom Navan look to put ground between them and UL.
Cashel V Nenagh Ormond, Fri 24th March, Spafield, 8pm
Action from 2A begins under lights in Spafield, where Cashel look to claw back their top four status, while Nenagh have a title in mind.
In this all Tipperary affair, Cashel will be looking to claw their eight point deficit to Barnhall back, after being without a win from their last three games, they need those points to have any hope of ending the season still in the promotion hunt.
Nenagh on the other hand have been flying high, with a recent run they see themselves sat second two points behind Queens, the top of the table has had plenty twists and turns in 2A so far, off the back of a seven game unbeaten run since the new year, a result here could see them top once the weekend is over.
Ballymena V UL Bohemian, Sat 25th March, Eaton Park, 2:30pm
UL Bohs will view every game at the end of the season as a must win as they are within touching distance of getting out of the bottom two, Ballymena will hope to not be pulled into that relegation battle.
The hosts Ballymena dropped down the table following round 15’s action, they are down in seventh while score difference may no be an issue, they have an eight point gap between them and the drop zone, this game would be important to get points, they had built a decent winning run but hopefully their defeat in round 15 has not knocked them,
For the Robins from Shannonside, Navan are priority number 1 as they sit ahead of them in the table, with Navan taking on Dolphin, they need their relegation neighbours to do them a favour and get even closer to safety.
Dolphin V Navan, Sat 25th March, Musgrave Park, 2:30pm
Bottom placed Dolphin have a race against time to save their status in 2A, Navan head to Leeside in a big tie for both.
With eight points between UL and Dolphin, the Cork side will look to claw them back, 15 points are at max on offer in these final weeks, it will be a nervy finish but they need some big results to give them hope.
Navan dropped further down the table and are now in eight spot, once challenging for top four, they are now fighting to stay up, trying not to lose a fifth game in a row they need a big fighting performance to take a win and try and ease their struggles.
Old Crescent V Blackrock College RFC, Sat 25th March, Takumi Park, 2:30pm
Blackrock are still within a shot at the title and will travel to Shannonside with the hopes of taking points from Old Crescent.
Crescent are sat in sixth level with Ballymena, mathematically they are not quite safe from dropping down if they slump into a losing spell, they won last time out over Navan, but fell to defeat in Stradbrook in October.
Blackrock saw themes;es drop to third in the standings after a late defeat to Queens last time out, a game they will feel they should have won, but they have to look past that as they travel to Limerick with two points between them and Queens, they will know where Nenagh are by kick off, but might have an ear on the acton at the Dub.
Queens University V MU Barnhall, Sat 25th March, Dub Lane, 2:30pm
Leaders Queens need to put a big performance down this weekend if they want to push for the title this season, as Barnhall are still within the chase.
Queens regained their lead after a spirited late second half comeback to Blackrock, Queens have lacked some consistency this season, they have winning runs come to an end and now with wins under their belt to build a streak they will try to not squander the chance to win the title.
Barnhall were leading and now occupy fourth, every team in the top four has the chance to go top this weekend depending on results, a win here for the Kildare side would be a huge chance for them to be in that picture in the final weeks, they lost the reverse of this fixture by two points but since then they have vastly improved in this competition.
Diarmuid Kearney
Diarmuid Kearney is a freelance Sports Journalist based in Co Kerry. He has more than 5 years experience covering domestic and international soccer for different media organisations, while also working for local and national print and digital organisations covering GAA.