Shamrock Rovers could be crowned four in a row Premier Division champions by Monday with tonight's fixture with Drogheda United the last major step for the Hoops.
Several of their rivals have been seen off – often faltering at the requirements a title challenge needs – and Derry City and St Patrick’s Athletic remain the only challengers.
It has not been a vintage campaign for Stephen Bradley’s side. Europe was a huge disappointment and the FAI Cup also went by the wayside.
However four titles on the spin will be put in the history books for a side which has dominated the league so far this decade.
Drogheda will not make it easy. They claimed a famous win last time out at the venue – a result which demonstrated the magnificent job done by Kevin Doherty.
His side are mathematically safe, yet will be keen to finish off the year with their high standards.
There is an FAI Cup final dress rehearsal in Dalymount Park as Bohemians take on St Patrick’s Athletic.
It’s often the case as this stage of the year that such games are dead rubbers and managers are reluctant to reveal their hand.
It’s far from the case in what is arguably their most important match of the year so far with the battle for Europe nearing a conclusion.
Pat’s hold the upper hand in the table by a single point and a game in hand on Monday against Sligo Rovers.
Bohs know Shelbourne and even Dundalk are still in the hunt so they must keep up their good form, particularly at Dalymount Park where they have been a match for most teams.
Derry will try to keep their toe in the race when Shels visit the Ryan McBride Brandywell. Again it’s a mammoth match as a win for the visitors would actually put the home side at risk of losing a top three position in the table.
Dundalk can keep their hopes alive against a Sligo side who have failed to produce for most of the season.
The Bit O’ Red need one win to guarantee their safety, although they may not even require it.
Cork City could be condemned to the play-off if relegated UCD repeat the result from earlier in the season in the UCD Bowl.
It looks like the Rebels are preparing for that November decider, barring a massive turnaround.
Kick-off in all games is 7.45pm
Shamrock Rovers v Drogheda United, Tallaght Stadium, 7.45pm
Shamrock Rovers know the danger Drogheda United bring as well as the rewards a victory could bring tonight.
Hoops boss Stephen Bradley said: "Drogheda are very efficient in the final third of the pitch, they've shown that and we saw it throughout the season
"Kevin Doherty has done a brilliant job and they have a really honest and hard-working group of players and they have good quality in the final third. So we know it’s a difficult game and we have to be ruthless when we get our opportunities against Drogheda."
Jack Byrne may have played his final game for Shamrock Rovers after confirmation came he will miss the rest of the year.
Bradley added: "Jack has just had an operation so he'll be out for the rest of the season. He came through the Shels game OK, but he felt the injury again in training so we sent him back to London and the surgeon wasn’t happy, so they’ve operated on him. To be fair to Jack, he did everything possible to get back on the pitch, most other players might have opted for the operation very early on.
"But Jack was adamant he wanted to get back on the pitch and help the team even though he knew in his heart that he wasn’t 100%.
"With a player of Jack’s quality you give him every opportunity to do that, but it got to a point he just couldn’t function properly so unfortunately he’s now out for the last games."
Sean Kavanagh is also likely to miss out.
Derry City v Shelbourne, Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium, 7.45pm
Both of these sides are hoping they haven't left it too late in their respective targets for the season.
Derry remain in the hunt for the title but need a dramatic collapse from Shamrock Rovers.
In truth they have fallen short in vital stages of the season and they have made life easy for their rivals.
Nevertheless there is still a chance to at least delay the party in Tallaght.
Shelbourne are firmly in the hunt for Europe and have a favourable run-in. Fourth place could deliver a Conference League spot depending on how the final plays out.
Derry boss Ruaidhri Higgins said: "While it has been a frustrating couple of weeks in terms of the title race, there is still an awful lot to play for.
"Our home form has been really good for a while now and with two of our last three matches at the Brandywell we have the opportunity to finish on a high.
"We know that picking up three points on Friday night would be huge and if we do that, it means we're very close to securing European football again.
"It’ll be far from easy because Shels have been enjoying a good season themselves.
"They’re a really well coached side and although they have the best defensive record in the league, they’re about more than that. They have very good individual players and we’re under no illusions that it will be a difficult night."
City have no injury concerns.
Andrew Quinn and JR Wilson could return for Shelbourne. Sean Boyd is also nearing a comeback
Bohemians v St Patrick's Athletic, Dalymount Park, 7.45pm
Declan Devine has called on his players to step up to the challenge of St Patrick's Athletic with a European spot potentially at stake.
Devine said: "The bottom line is that we have to take care of our side of the bargain, and make sure that we play to the intensity we have been here in Dalymount.
"Our form at home has been very good.
"We have put so much blood, sweat and tears into our league campaign that at this stage of the season it is vitally important for us as a group that we finish it off properly.
"We've put ourselves in a good place but we know that there are absolutely no guarantees. We have to be at our very best in every game.
Tom Grivosti (knee), Axel Sjoberg (hamstring) and Harry Brockbank (quad) will all miss the game for Pat's.
It's a sold out encounter of over 4,000. That number is likely to be 40,000 when they clash again in the FAI Cup final.
Pat's manager Jon Daly stated: "We're very aware of what Bohs bring and the threat they pose. We've worked hard towards what we need to do to manage that. They've got some very good attacking players who can cause us a lot of problems and have done throughout the season.
"If we win this game, it would be huge result. It doesn't guarantee anything but it obviously gets you one step closer to where you want to be. It's a huge game - we know that and Bohs know that. The fans also know it and I'm sure they'll all be in full voice, all 450 that will be there."
Sligo Rovers v Dundalk, The Showgrounds, 7.45pm
It hasn't been a happy year for either of these sides. They harboured aspirations of challenging for European football and perhaps even more in the case of Dundalk.
Lilywhites boss Stephen O'Donnell has promised changes for this game.
"There is obviously still an outside chance of us finishing fourth but, from our point of view, I want the players to show some hunger, some exuberance and some enthusiasm to finish the season well," he said.
"It's been a turbulent campaign and it’s important that our attitude is spot on for the last three games.
"It’s a good opportunity to give players a chance. There’ll be a bit of freshness about the team and I’m looking forward to seeing how those players fare at a difficult venue.
Louie Annesley, who has not featured for Dundalk since 25 August, will be assessed after returning from a six-week layoff and playing the full 90 minutes in Gibraltar's internationals with Wales and the Republic of Ireland over the last week.
Gary Boylan and Mark Byrne sit out for Rovers after cruciate ligament injuries.
John Russell has the rest of his squad on offer.
He said "It's great for me to have the options available in the squad. We had a couple of good performances in recent games and then a good half against Bohs. The second we weren’t at it and we deserved to lose the game because of it.
"We're looking to be much more consistent over the 90 minutes on Friday as we were in those previous games. "We’ll reflect on everything and pick the starting team but we know in recent home games we’ve been able to call on our bench to good success so we have that available as well."
UCD v Cork City, UCD Bowl 7.45pm
The basement battle between UCD and Cork City fixed for 7.45pm this evening is off.
The inclement weather in the wake of Storm Babet continues to cause havoc, with the combination of an orange weather warning for Dublin and an unplayable pitch at the UCD Bowl causing the cancellation of tonight's SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division clash.
A statement from the League of Ireland says details of a refixture will be announced in due course.
