Ballyheane maintained their place at the top of the Super League standings after a 2-2 draw on the road against Ballina Town last weekend.
The draw saw the defending champions stay six points clear of their hosts, who fell to third place in the table after Westport United picked up their fourth win on the bounce to move into second place after a 4-0 win over Manulla.
The meeting of Ballina Town and Ballyheane had been marked out as the game of the weekend and it delivered, with both sides sharing the spoils after an exciting encounter.
The visitors were 2-0 up at the break and looked good to stretch the gap between the two sides to nine points in the standings after goals from Ben Edeh and Jack Rochford put them in control of the game.
The hosts though kept battling and late goals from Oleg Vysochan and Benny Lavelle saw them salvage a point and keep them on the coat-tails of the league leaders as the race for the title enters the home straight.
In United Park, Westport United made it four wins from four to move within five points of Ballyheane at the top of the table with four rounds of league action left to play out over the coming weeks.
Darren Browne put United 1-0 up not long before the break, heading home a James O'Donnell cross and they went on to add three more goals in the second half to round out the win. Jack Murphy arrowed home a free kick for their second goal with 20 minutes to go and he then set up Dylan O'Malley for their third to make the game safe, before Adam Nugent wrapped up the scoring with their fourth goal of the day.
The battle at the bottom of the table saw a number of twists and turns last weekend with Glenhest Rovers and Straide and Foxford United picking up vital wins, while Ballyhaunis Town saw a 3-0 early lead finish up in a 6-4 defeat at home to Kiltimagh-Knock United to leave them rock bottom of the table.
Rovers moved themselves clear of the drop zone thanks to a 2-0 win over Castlebar Celtic in Celtic Park. The visitors hit second half goals through Levi Barrett and Eoin Morris to pick up a vital three points in the battle at the bottom.
On Saturday evening in Green Road it was a real relegation six pointer and the points went to the hosts when Straide and Foxford United had a 4-1 win over Claremorris, to make it three wins from four for the hosts.
Kieran Smyth was the hero for the hosts, grabbing a hat-trick inside 11 minutes in the first half to have his side 3-0 up, the visitors did manage to pull one back before the break through a Joe Slevin goal - but United got their fourth not long before the turnaround thanks to Darren Flatley and they were able to see out the second half and collect all three points.
Ballyhaunis Town looked like they were going to give their chances of survival a real boost when they were 3-0 up at home to Kiltimagh-Knock United inside half-an-hour but ended up losing 6-4 in a cracking game in Station Rise. Andy Cunnane got things going with the first goal of the day, before Gary Higgins got their second and Cunnane their third.
The visitors did pull one back before the break through a Jack O'Connor goal and it only took them ten minutes in the second half to have the game all square thanks to goals from Dan Duffy and Dylan Webb. Not long after Kiltimagh-Knock United were in front thanks to a second goal from O'Connor. It looked like Ballyhaunis Town would salvage a point when Gary Higgins levelled the game up when he stroked home the rebound after his initial effort from the penalty spot was saved. But it wasn't to be for the hosts as Iarla Carty headed home to put the visitors in front once again and then as the hosts were chasing the game, Rob O'Flaherty got in to finish off the scoring and give United the win and leave Ballyhaunis Town in deep relegation trouble with only four games to go.
This weekend it's top versus bottom on Saturday evening in Super League when Ballyhaunis Town travel to Quigley Park at 6.30pm. Points are vital for both sides, but the defending champions at home will be well favoured to take the three points in this one.
On Sunday morning Straide and Foxford United will be looking to stretch the gap between themselves and the rest of the bottom sides in the table when they make the short trip to face Kiltimagh-Knock United at 11am. The hosts who showed great resolve to come from three down last weekend on the road before picking up the points will not be an easy assignment for the Green Road side.
Also kicking off at the same time is Claremorris' game at home to Westport United. The Covies are still in with a shout of chasing down the league leaders at the top of the table and having won four from four, look to be in a good position to put even more pressure on the Concannon Park side in their battle to avoid the drop.
The other games on Sunday kick off at 2.30pm and see Manulla and Castlebar Celtic, who are both level on 16 points in the table, meet in Carramore. Both sides were beaten last weekend and will be looking to get back to winning ways this time out. Ballina Town will head to Glenhest at the same time to take on the Roves. The north Mayo men need to keep winning to have a chance of hunting down Ballyheane at the top of the standings, but with the hosts still locked in a relegation battle, they have everything to play for themselves in this one.
Elverys Sports Super League: Saturday, August 13 (at 6.30pm ); Ballyheane v Ballyhaunis Town; Sunday, August 14 (At 11am ); Claremorris v Westport United, Kiltimagh-Knock United v Straide and Foxford United, (At 2.30pm ); Manulla v Castlebar Celtic, Glenhest Rovers v Ballina Town.
