With just five rounds left until the split in the Sports Direct Premiership, permutations all across the league are being discussed ahead of a crunch climax.
A three-team title race is now led by Larne, inspired to a 2-0 triumph over Loughgall courtesy of Scottish striker Andy Ryan’s brace on Friday night. That fired the reigning champions up to the summit and, after a last-gasp Aaron Prendergast leveller broke Linfield hearts the following day as David Healy’s Blues were forced to settle for a 2-2 draw at Glenavon, the Inver Park men will remain there until the next weekend.
Cliftonville remain hot on the heels, too; they had no such issues consolidating a 4-1 victory over a malfunctioning Coleraine at Solitude. Despite returnee winter recruit Jamie McGonigle finishing to halve the deficit for the Bannsiders just after the interval, Hale brothers Ronan and Rory enveloped Shea Kearney and Sam Ashford in the scoring stakes in a deserving success for Jim Magilton’s high-flying Reds.
Ireland’s oldest football club lost star midfielder Chris Gallagher to Larne after a messy transfer saga, while centre-back Luke Turner also exited for St Patrick’s Athletic in a deal that saw initial loanee shot-stopper David Odumosu sign permanently.
That could derail a team, but Magilton’s charges are made of stronger stuff and the manager deserves credit for ensuring that the north Belfast club remain just three points off Tiernan Lynch’s pacesetters.
But an even more open-ended conundrum exists in the middle of the standings – the race for what in all probability will be two European Play-Off spots.
Five teams are split by just four points from sixth-place to 10th.
Despite the Bannsiders’ loss on the road – a seventh in their last eight encounters – Oran Kearney’s battlers continue to cling onto sixth by the tips of their fingers with 32 points banked to date.
Behind the Showgrounds side are Loughgall, Carrick Rangers (both 31), Glenavon (30) and Dungannon Swifts (28). On the Irish League’s Desmond Day, all of Carrick, Glenavon and Dungannon gained a point courtesy of 2-2 draws on Saturday afternoon.
The Amber Army recovered from two goals down at half-time to rescue a share of the spoils away to Glentoran, with an Andy Mitchell scorcher preceding seasoned Curtis Allen’s leveller to send Stuart King home happy.
Meanwhile, striker Prendergast’s tap-in after Peter Campbell cracked the woodwork added to James Doona’s first-half drive and cancelled out Darragh McBrien’s 88th-minute header for Linfield with practically the last kick at Mourneview Park as Stephen McDonnell’s Lurgan Blues maintained their push for Europe.
It feels like Dungannon, however, have soared under the radar.
They actually led right as the clock ticked into the red at Stangmore Park, with Joe Moore’s strike seemingly set to send them to victory against a Crusaders side still rocked by news that their near-two-decade-long boss Stephen Baxter would soon depart. Ben Kennedy struck a couple of minutes into stoppage-time to deny them.
Nevertheless, Rodney McAree’s Swifts are motoring along nicely and are very much within range of upsetting the applecart.
Their formbook in league play tells a tale, losing just once in their last five outings – against Larne – and clinching four points out of six in meet-ups away to Linfield and at home to the the Hatchetmen.
The Tyrone aces also thumped nine goals past basement duo Ballymena United and Newry City despite revelatory 18-goal top scorer Matthew Lusty having not played since Christmas through injury.
Dungannon have almost certainly extended their top-flight status into a 21st year with that flying sequence of results and, as such, should cast their eyes up rather than down during the run-in.
McAree, who made his return to the Swifts in the summer of 2023, was appointed on the back of predecessor Dean Shiels successfully keeping the club up through the relegation play-off, and although the opening months were punctuated by cohesive displays that weren’t perhaps yielding the points rewards that reflected their fruits of labour, Dungannon have kept their shoulder to the wheel after the turn of the year.
With a proud history of refining stars of tomorrow, talents up top like Ben Gallagher and Tomas Galvin, who have both enjoyed breakthrough campaigns and netted 12 Premiership goals between them, have been joined in January by the returning Andrew Mitchell.
He buried home 25 in the 2016/17 season under McAree and, after finding the net in league play for the first time since his comeback against Crusaders, the 30-year-old will bet on himself to enjoy a fighting finish and roar the Swifts into the top six.
Yes, they can do it. A team that included Kris Lowe, Jamie Glackin, Jarlath O’Rourke and Seanan Clucas reached the Euro shoot-out during Mitchell’s record-breaking crusade as Dungannon qualified in seventh-place.
A new generation seven years on, although with fellow sprinkles of their past glories dotted around in the shape of defender Chris Hegarty and midfielder Ryan Harpur, can emulate that – or go further still.
A fully fit Lusty helps their case without question, but with a few mouth-watering clashes to come against Carrick, Coleraine and Glenavon as well as home showdowns with Glentoran and Cliftonville, don’t sleep on the Swifts leaving their best for last.
Featured image from Dungannon Swifts FC Media.
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