Saturday Morning League: tomorrow's games previewed

Kick-off 10.30am

Premier Division

DU PONT v BRANDYWELL CELTIC (at Du Pont)

There is really no reason why Brandywell Celtic should not be looking ahead to next season and planning a title challenge.

They have proved time and time again this year that they can not only match, but better the best teams in the Premier Division.

If they can sort out the inconsistency of their results, then they really should be challenging at the top.

That is something that manager Paul Kelly will be stressing to his players, especially after defeating Creggan Swifts last Saturday.

That was not the first time that Brandywell have stepped up to the mark in the big games, but it is their attitude in lesser games like these which has cost them.

They should easily defeat already-relegated Du Pont, but knowing Brandywell, they could well make hard work of it.

Prediction: Brandywell to get the win.

Championship

TRISTAR v STRABANE ATHLETIC (at Prehen No 1)

After a relatively poor season, Tristar are now playing some of their best football and a win over Newton Heath last week just added to their recent run of results.

They were unfortunate not to beat Phoenix recently but they full deserved their win over Newton Heath and although the resurgence comes too late in the season to really matter, it is still something to build on for next year.

They will do well however to get something from this game.

Strabane Athletic are finishing the season very strongly, their 4-2 win over Dungiven keeping them joint third with Sion Swifts.

They will still be kicking themselves over losing out on promotion, but they will be a force again next term.

Prediction: Strabane Athletic to take the points.

CITY COLTS v NEWTON HEATH] (at Brandywell Showgrounds)

If City Colts are not careful, they will let promotion slip away from them at the very last hurdle this season. They have been close to imperious for most of the season, but lately they have been far from convincing.

Strabane Athletic could tell them all about letting things slip in this division as they are still paying the price for their own crash.

Colts were always going to be up against it against runaway league leaders Foyle Harps on Saturday past, but that is surely their last warning.

They have now slipped to third behind Sion Swifts and they will need to win their remaining games to make absolutely sure that they are playing Premier Division football next season.

They should have too much for Newton Heath, who are coasting their way towards the end of the season.

Prediction: City Colts to get back to winning ways.

FOYLE HARPS v FOYLE FC (at Leafair)

There has been a big difference between the two Foyle teams this season.

While FC have struggled to make much of an impression.

Harps have run away with the leadership at the top of the Championship.

Their inevitable league title win was finally confirmed last weekend when they defeated City Colts, the team who have been on their trail for most of the season.

It will be interesting to see how they cope in the Premier Division next year.

There has been no shortage of other teams in their position, only to find that the top flight is more of a struggle than they may have expected.

That is in the future however. In the meantime they will see out their league campaign, hoping to go undefeated until the end of the season.

One glance at the league table would suggest that this will be one-way traffic in favour of Harps, and that is likely to be the case.

Prediction: Harps to pick up a comfortable win.

ARTIGARVAN v PHOENIX ATHLETIC COLTS (at Lisnagelvin No 2)

Phoenix Athletic Colts suffered one of their biggest defeats of the season last week when they conceded five against Clooney, this despite taking a 1-0 lead.

Phoenix’s staying power this season has been far from impressive and that is something that their management will have to address during the summer.

A bit more resilience is needed from Phoenix and if they manage to boost their squad with the right players, then they could make significant progress in the Championship next season. It will be equally as interesting to see how Artigarvan fare in the near future.

They will likely go through their debut season in the Saturday Morning League without a victory, but they are not the first team to be in this position, and they will not be the last It would be nice for them if they could break their duck before the end of the current campaign, but it looks unlikely, especially with their opponents having something to prove this weekend.

Prediction: Phoenix to get the win.

SION SWIFTS v CLOONEY (at Strabane)

Sion Swifts could well sneak into the one remaining promotion place if they can win their final two games of the season.

They have moved three points ahead of City Colts into second place, and they have proved to be more convincing in recent weeks.

They have plenty of incentive to win this game against Clooney, and, on their own turf, they should really pick up the points.

However, Clooney go into this one on the back of a convincing 5-1 win over Phoenix Athletic Colts, and they will be up for this one.

Clooney could yet manage a top five finish and in such a competitive division, that would be an impressive achievement.

This should be an interesting contest whichever way it goes.

Prediction: Sion Swifts to keep the pressure on City Colts with a victory.