By Shaun Casey

WITH the league title already safely wrapped up by Kilcoo with five games remaining, all the exciting action for the rest of the campaign will be at the bottom of the Down Division One table as a number of teams will have to battle it out to cling onto their top-tier status.

Saul are currently bottom of the pile with eight points to their name but have hit an extraordinary run of form recently and have secured three successive victories to really boost their survival chances.

Goals have been crucial to their success of late and they’ve bagged five in their last three outings, including two from Philly Doran that saw them over the line against Warrenpoint last weekend, with four the difference in the end.

Ballyholland are just above them at the minute and they currently have nine points, but they did lose to relegation rivals Saul two weeks ago and also suffered a two-point loss to Burren in their last outing.

It’s fairly tight at the moment and RGU Downpatrick just rest above that relegation zone, leading Ballyholland and Saul by one and two points respectively, and they defeated Loughinisland last weekend to pick up a fifth win of the campaign.

Mayobridge and Warrenpoint are currently on 12 points each and they aren’t exactly safe either, although Mayobridge do have a game in hand against champions Kilcoo, so both teams will be keen to finish the league campaign on a high with a couple of wins.

Warrenpoint are in a bit of a rut at the moment, and they’ll want to improve on their poor run of form. In their last three games, John Boyle’s side have lost out to Saul, Loughinisland and Kilcoo.

Mayobridge, on the other hand, have won three of their last four games and their battle with Loughinisland, who are two points above them in the table, in a couple of weeks’ time will be a huge game for both clubs.

For the teams at the top of the table, they’re focus will all be on the championship now, especially Carryduff and Burren, who are behind Kilcoo and can’t catch them. They’ll have their eyes set on the business end of the season.