When any team, in any sport, begins to dominate it's natural for the neutral to begin to side against them.
Victory for Shamrock Rovers this evening, against second place Derry City, would leave them seven points clear at the top of the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division with just 18 points still up for grabs.
It would, in reality, see them with one hand firmly gripping the League of Ireland trophy and unbackable favourites for their fourth title in a row.
It would be only the second time the club has managed the feat and it means that this squad has a chance to write itself into the history books of the League of Ireland.
They did wobble in July and August.
European participation, and their preparations for that, saw them win just two of six league games either side of being knocked out of both the Champions League and the Conference League at the first time of asking.
Dundalk also ended the Tallaght club's hopes of a domestic double when they sunk them in the FAI Cup but Rovers look to be back on form with the Lilywhites - as well as their biggest local rivals Bohemians - seen off before the international break.
Manager Stephen Bradley will be without Jack Byrne while Johnny Kenny returned from Republic of Ireland under-21 duty with a knock and he's not fully fit.
They head to the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium having won the last meeting between the sides there in May, with Richie Towell and Jack Byrne finding the back of the net in a 2-0 triumph.
With St Patrick's Athletic to come on the second last day at Richmond Park, they'll want to wrap up top spot as quickly as possible.
Last season Derry slipped up ahead of a trip to face Shamrock Rovers. They were first held by Shelbourne and then failed to overcome Sligo Rovers on the Monday evening.
That was six days before what was supposed to be a crunch game at Tallaght but, having won six games on the trot, those two draws meant the Candystripes couldn't catch Stephen Bradley's side at the top. Dreams of rattling the Hoops' cage in west Dublin turned into a guard of honour to welcome the champions out onto the pitch.
Since then they've claimed silverware with their FAI Cup triumph last November and their form heading into this encounter is good with four wins in their last six league games.
Their record against Rovers at home in the last two seasons reads: 3W 1D 1L. One of those victories was in the FAI Cup, another in the President's Cup while perhaps most significantly the only defeat was the last time they clashed on Foyleside.
What lessons they've learned this season will only become a bit clearer by 10 o'clock tonight, but manager Ruaidhrí Higgins says his team have already achieved something in this campaign.
"A few months ago we spoke as a group about putting ourselves in a position, over a period of time, to set up something for ourselves and we've managed to do that," he said at this week's pre-match press conference.
"All credit goes to our players with how they've gone about their business over the last few months. We've given ourselves an opportunity, and that's all it is at the minute - an opportunity.
"We'll treat this game the way we treat every game and we won't get too excited about it.
"We've been on a tremendous run. The players are playing with confidence, enjoying their football, and we just want more of the same."
Higgins said this week that he's giving Patrick McEleney and Mark Connolly every chance to prove that they can play some part in the game later, whether that's from the start or off the bench.
Followers of the Hoops won't care what everyone else thinks, but the League of Ireland might be better served by a title race that goes on a little longer.
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