With two rounds to go everything is still just about up for grabs

AFTER five rounds of competition, with just two remaining, Division 1 is wide, wide open.

With just three points separating first from fifth in the table, everything is pretty much still up for grabs. Derry, with eight points atop the table, aren’t yet guaranteed a place in the final, but they are assured Division 1 status for another season.

The teams in second, third and fourth – Dublin, Mayo and Kerry respectively – on six points are highly unlikely to find themselves sucked into a relegation battle at this stage, but from Galway in fifth (on five points) on down nobody is safe.

Monaghan, who started the campaign so well with victory over Dublin in Croke Park, look the side most likely to be relegated, but the Farney have had more lives than a domestic cat when it comes to survival in the division.

Still with a trip to Omagh to face Tyrone – still not out of the woods themselves – in the next round, it’s looking tricky for Vinny Corey’s men at this juncture. They might be out of the reckoning even before their final game at home to Monaghan.

As for

Kerry’s next opponents Roscommon, victory over a Kerry side that haven’t always done brilliantly on the road over the last couple of seasons is a must if they’re to avoid the drop themselves (a final day game on the road to a Derry side who might already have qualified for the final could be a saving grace too).

For the Kingdom a place in the league final remains very much a possibility should they win their final two games of the campaign, both of which (away to Roscommon and at home to Galway) they’d be fancied to win all things being equal.

Perhaps, though, not all things are equal. With a warm-weather training camp pencilled in for the week before the National League final, there’s a chance Kerry might not be too pushed about qualifying.

Besides even with two wins from two they wouldn’t be guaranteed. Two wins in their final two games from any two of Derry, Dublin or Mayo, would make it a moot point.

Derry’s trip away to Mayo on Paddy’s Day will probably be make-or-break for both sides, while Dublin (away to Galway and at home to Tyrone on the last day) look fairly unstoppable at the moment. The smart money is on a Dublin-Derry final, with Roscommon and Monaghan the most likely for the drop.