With one of three finals already booked in, the Plate and Shield Trophies are still up for grabs in the penultimate round of action, with teams aiming to secure their passage.
Galwegians V Suttonians, Sat 1st April, Crowley Park, 12pm
Galwegians look to be in a good spot to play in the shield final, but can fight for a spot in the plate final in the penultimate weekend.
Level on points with Blackrock the right result could see them in the spot to fight for the plate final instead, a big win last weekend does leave them in good form, the draw with Blackrock means they haven’t lost in three ahead of this tie.
Bottom placed Sutts are still playing for their first win, six straight defeats leave them at the back of the chasing pack in this competition, a win here would be a big scalp for them.
Railway Union V UL Bohemian, Sat 1st April, Park Avenue, 12pm
Quite possibly the biggest game of the weekend’s action looks set to be a taster of the cup final.
Railway Union seven straight wins look to reclaim their cup crown, they did the double last year but defeat in the final this season in the league leaves them hungrier than ever to lift the cup, they have been the yard stick so far this season in the cup, just two defeats all season both to Blackrock, they aim to keep it that way.
UL came back in emphatic fashion to make it to the top four of the league campaign, but have made the cup run count so far with six from six, to keep that alive they need to topple the other unbeaten side, form will count but a final can change everything, win here and they would be in good shape.
Cooke V Blackrock College, Sat 1st April, Shaw’s Bridge, 5pm
Cooke aim to upset the applecart and force a way into the shield final if they can topple Blackrock
Cooke sit in sixth with just a sole win this year they hope to make it two and hope Belvedere slip up ahead of the final weekend, it is a tough ask they suffered a 40-7 defeat in the league when Rock were much stronger, but that was in September and they will have hoped fortunes change.
Blackrock will have to settle for the plate final after storming the league, but missing key players they have struggled in the cup series, despite that they have still impressed and will look for a domestic double to cap off a terrific season.
Old Belvedere V Ballincollig, Sat 1st April, Ollie Campbell Park, 5pm
Old Belvedere started slow but aim to finish in the race for silverware, a win over Ballincollig would get them in contention.
Bevlo have the challenge of Cooke to worry about but if they can win here and see them suffer defeat then they have a shot at silverware after also feeling the hit of losing some big names in their ranks to Ireland duty.
While it may been a long shot, if Ballincollig won this via a bonus point and Cooke lost, they would tie on points with Belvedere, leaving them needing a win on the last weekend, they still have a chance if it might not be a great one as they have struggled for results, but you never know what can happen.
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.