All eyes will be on the Bowl on Saturday afternoon when Peel and St Mary’s battle it out for glory in this season’s FA Cup.

The traditional Easter showdown pits the Railway Cup champions Peel against Premier League leaders Mary’s who remain on course for a possible league and cup treble.

With 31 triumphs to their name in their illustrious history, Peel are the most successful team in the FA Cup and will be desperate to add yet another honour to the Douglas Road trophy cabinet.

Standing in their way though, is a Saints side that is on the brink of clinching a memorable league title and a team which thrashed the westerners last time they met two months ago at the same stadium.

On that occasion, Alex Harrison’s men swept aside 10-man Peel in ruthless fashion, but expect a much closer contest this time around, especially on the back of the westerners’ impressive win over Corinthians in the Hospital Cup last weekend.

Should Steve Falconer’s men from the west clinch a 32nd FA Cup, they will have to do it without the services of two-time Isle of Man FA Player of the Year Lee Gale who is expected to miss the rest of the season with a broken rib. Indeed, the winger faces a race to be fit for this year’s inter-island tournament in Anglesey in June.

That said, Falconer has a wealth of talent at his disposal, not least Rhys Oates who has been a revelation since making the switch from St John’s last summer and who is still in the running for the Isle of Man Newspapers’ Player of the Year gong.

At the other end of the pitch, Owen Dawson was in fine form in goal against Corinthians and he will likely have a big say in the outcome of this weekend’s game.

Seven-time FA Cup winners St Mary’s last lifted the trophy back in 2013 when they edged past St George’s 2-1 thanks to goals from Steven Priestnal and Brian Crellin. Priestnal is competing in a different final this weekend (see preview right), but he will probably be egging his former team-mates on at the national stadium on Saturday.

Harrison has a near full-strength team at his disposal and, with the likes of Jack McVey, Frank Jones and Darren Hudgeon in superb form at the moment, they will certainly be confident of claiming the silverware.

Jones and McVey were integral parts of Geordies’ recent Grand Slam successes and that experience could well prove key in this match.

Expect a close contest that could well go either way but, with that 5-1 win in February still fresh in the memory and St Mary’s firing on all cylinders, the Saints will go in the match as slight favourites.

Kick-off in the Friends Provident-sponsored competition finale is 2pm.