There’s an action-packed programme in the Canada Life Premier League this weekend, with vital clashes at both ends of the table on Saturday.

Taking top billing are the games between title rivals St Mary’s and Corinthians at the Bowl, plus the Old Firm clash between Peel and Rushen United at Douglas Road.

The Saints and Whites both go into the weekend’s match on the back of being knocked out of the BOS Railway Cup semi-finals last Saturday, having lost to St George’s and Peel respectively. Therefore, both will be looking to respond in the best possible manner and a win for either would be a significant boost to their titles hopes.

When the sides met earlier in the season, it was St Mary’s who triumphed by the odd goal in five at Ballafletcher thanks to strikes from Craig Murphy, Frank Jones and Jack McVey. The latter pair missed their cup defeat to Geordies but should make their return this weekend, a huge boost to the Saints hopes of winning this clash.

Corinthians were on the wrong end of another 3-2 scoreline at Peel last week in a match which really could have gone either way and there were plenty of positives for Danny McMahon’s men.

Therefore, both teams will be well up for this battle and an intriguing contest should unfold at the Bowl.

Peel versus Rushen needs no introduction and the form of both sides suggest this weekend’s game could be a cracker. The westerners are undoubtedly the form team in Manx football at the moment, having won their last 10 matches in a row. Indeed, they last tasted defeat when Rushen inflicted a 2-0 reverse on them back in September.

The Spaniards themselves have steadily been going about their business in recent weeks with five successive wins and they’ll go into this match full of confidence.

At the other end of the table there’s a potentially pivotal game in the race to stave off relegation as St John’s and Castletown go head-to-head at Mullen-e-Cloie.

The teams sit eighth and ninth in the table at present with 10 and six points respectively, but with Town having two games in hand. A recent resurgence by the Saints has moved them slightly away from the drop zone but a bad result this weekend could well drag them right back into the mix so this could prove to be a close game.

Bottom-of-the-table Laxey went down fighting away at in-form Rushen last week which suggests it’s not all doom and gloom at Glen Road, but the Miners need to start picking up points soon.

They may well fancy their chances of picking up a positive result this Saturday when they travel to out-of-form Douglas Athletic who were held to a 2-2 draw by relegation battlers Douglas Royal last time out. The Pinks will start as favourites in this match, but Laxey may well pull off a surprise result at Springfield Road if the hosts are below par.

Royal very nearly beat DAFC in that match when they hit the woodwork in the last minute, but the point was enough to move them off the foot of the table. However, they face a daunting task this weekend as they travel to Blackberry Lane where they face DHSOB.

Liam Buckley’s men currently lie sixth in the table but have games in hand over all the sides above them and have recorded good results against the likes of Corinthians and Rushen this season, so they should prove too strong for the Whites this weekend.