It was a mixed weekend for Fox Lodge who lost the local derby to Burndennett, but won a thriller against top eight rivals Coleraine that sees them hanging onto their top eight hopes, but with matters out of their hands.

They will be hoping for a St Johnston win at home to Coleraine on Saturday, while Newbuildings and Eglinton are both within mathematical reach, although to overhaul either would be a long shot given they play each other and are 24 points ahead of the Ballymagorry side.

Foxies skipper Aaron Heywood reflected on a topsy turvy weekend, and isn’t going to give up a top eight place just yet.

“The defeat against Burndennett was a deserved one,” said Heywood. “We knew we couldn’t expect a typical end of season game with it being a local derby. Mark Pollock and Niall McDonnell both batted well to get them home. We were obviously disappointed but we knew we had to pick ourselves up for Sunday’s clash to give ourselves any chance of staying up.

“I thought we showed remarkable character to put together a very competitive total on what was a tricky pitch. The match was a real thriller in a must-win game for us. We would have wanted it to be more comfortable but those are the games that you want to play in, with a big crowd cheering on.

“We felt fortunate to come away with the victory considering the way Marcus Poskitt batted which was truly exceptional. His knock was outstanding with his ball striking as good as I’ve seen in a very long time. Thankfully for us, we got him out at just the right time.

That keeps us alive to the weekend in the chase for the top eight places. It’s going to be interesting, and hopefully there are a few twists and turns along the way. We have to see what happens on Saturday and take it from there. We will certainly give it a real crack on Sunday at Ardmore if there is still the chance of Premiership survival.”

If both teams go into the match at The Bleachgreen needing points then it has the potential to be one of the most tense contests in recent years – albeit for contrasting reasons!