Battle for second tier title goes down to the wire

League of IrelandWith a far from original description of it last weekend as a graveyard by a player desperate to avoid returning to it, the First Division nonetheless continues to pulse with life and is set to provide a more interesting climax than the Premier Division for the first time in some time next weekend.

Finn Harps' stage fright in dropping two unlikely points against Athlone Town in front of the live TV cameras last Friday night saw them overtaken by Cobh Ramblers, who duly beat Monaghan United, though not without a scare or two, on Sunday to regain a one-point lead with one game to play.

With the Premier Division's top-two positions sorted, with only the Intertoto Cup place and relegation to be confirmed on Friday, the battle for the second tier's title and automatic promotion goes right to the wire next Saturday night.

Cobh travel to Athlone Town knowing a win will definitely bring them back to the top flight. For a club that finished in the top four three times in the last five years, reaching their goal will end a long road stretching back to when they were last in the top flight in 1995.

Finn Harps, regarded by the consensus to be the best footballing side in the division, must also strive for victory at Kilkenny City's Buckley Park and hope Athlone can upset Cobh as much as they did the folk of Ballybofey last week. All is not lost for whoever loses out on Saturday, as redemption is possible in the play-offs.

Staying up is then, as ever, the trick. Getting up this year will be filled with more than the usual amount of trepidation for the promoted side(s). With the league reverting to a to 10-team Premier Division for 2009, three teams will be relegated next year making 2008 all the more difficult for the newly promoted to establish a foothold.

Galway United, who went full-time after getting up on the strength of their administrative set-up last year, surviving by just a point or two should offer a salutary tale as to just how competitive, in every sense, the Premier Division has become.

Whatever happens on Saturday night, there is no doubting that it's been a remarkable battle for promotion as the three chief protagonists all took turns in setting the pace.

Dundalk and Finn Harps began the season as favourites to push each other all the way with Cobh and Athlone dark horses.

The added desire to get up after the trauma of losing out last season on administrative grounds, despite having won the play-off, looked to have given a well-motivated Dundalk extra impetus from the start.

John Gill's side stormed to the top with four straight wins, scoring 13 goals, and stayed there until they hit a wall in July.

A 1-0 defeat, to a very late Alan Carey goal at that, in Cobh in June looked like just a blip while they battled back to earn a draw at home to Finn Harps three weeks later.

But a run of just one win from their next six games flagged that something wasn't right at Oriel Park. Defeat at Shelbourne, a failure to score at bottom side Kilkenny and another loss at Monaghan saw them lose their four-and-a-half month long lead to Cobh.

A season of fervent promise ends with Dundalk very much up against it in the play-offs.

Finishing third means they meet the runners-up away in a one-off match. The winners of that then play-off against the second last side in the Premier over two legs with the top flight side having home advantage in the second game.

Having lost their opening two games, a home win over Finn Harps got Cobh up and running and they went on a terrific 27-match unbeaten run that finally brought them top spot in early August.

A dreadful start of just two wins from their opening 11 games frustrated all at Finn Harps and bemused the rest of us. That left them 18 points behind the leaders at one stage, signalling little hope of promotion.

Even then, however, Paul Hegarty's side were regarded by rival managers as the best they'd played.

Six straight victories brought belief and they stormed up the table. A run of just one defeat in 19 games saw them eventually hit top spot with a late Conor Gethins goal beating Cobh 1-0 at Finn Park on September 28th.

Having frustrated Finn Harps last Friday to give Cobh the opportunity to regain the lead, Athlone appear to be king-makers. Extending their unbeaten run to five games when Cobh visit Lissywoollen on Saturday would be one further twist most welcome in Donegal.