The Danske Bank Women’s Premiership returns this week as the second half of the campaign gets underway ahead of a busy conclusion to the season.
Four of the six clubs have five of their ten scheduled fixtures remaining to be played, ahead of the campaign concluding on Wednesday 9 December.
League leaders Glentoran - who have won five of their six league games, with the exception their thrilling 4-3 defeat at Sion Swifts - have played a game more than the rest of the league alongside Cliftonville, who sit second-from-bottom with three points in their six outings.
The league title race looks set to go down to the wire once again, with Sion Swifts also dropping only three points thus far - a 2-1 defeat at Crusaders Strikers earlier in the campaign.
Tony McGinley’s side missed out on their first ever league title last year to Linfield, being pipped only on the final day, and will be keen to secure this year’s title with their new-look squad.
The Strabane-based side will go top of the standings if they defeat the Crues at the Melvin Sports Complex on Wednesday night - the only match to go ahead this midweek.
A pivotal clash in the title race will take place at The Oval next Wednesday night as Billy Clarke’s Glentoran play host to Sion in a game which could go a long way to deciding the destination of the title.
Linfield have won the last four Danske Bank Women’s Premiership titles but look likely to fall short this season, having lost two of their opening five league games - both defeats coming against Belfast rivals Glentoran.
The Blues are still to play two games against Sion, although they are not the only side who could well derail the title hopes of others.
Along with their trip to Sion this week, Crusaders play host to Glentoran on the final day of the campaign - the Strikers have won five of their last six league games at Seaview and three of their last four defeats to the Glens have been by just a single goal.
Elsewhere, Cliftonville and Derry City - neither of whom will worry about relegation due to the format of this season’s Premiership - will be hopeful of strong finishes to the campaign, with the two still to rearrange their outstanding fixture scheduled for the Brandywell.
This has been a hugely challenging campaign for all clubs, players, coaching staff and volunteers across the league, and they all deserve a huge amount of credit for getting to this point.
But with an action-packed finish to the campaign and plenty more twists and turns left in store, this could yet prove a memorable season for all the right reasons.
