There's not even half of the race run yet, but Friday night's match between Shelbourne and St Patrick's Athletic still has more than a hint of showdown about it. If the current leaders win they will go five points clear, with their next nearest rivals, Cork, to come at Inchicore next week. A victory for Shelbourne and it's wide open between three teams. Only a goalless draw, a really dull one, would prove costly for all concerned.

The two Dublin teams have undeniably been the best sides in the country over the past couple of months, Tolka is, at present, the best ground around and Friday night football - the lights, the atmosphere and all the rest of that patter - is commonly seen as the future of the game. If this doesn't look up to much on television, then there will be few places left to hide afterwards for those keen to promote the National League.

On paper it should be good. Both sides are on excellent runs, each plays good football and their last meeting, in Richmond Park a couple of months ago, threw up five goals and a thrilling finale. Something like that this week would be a considerable boost to the league and to every club in it.

In that game, the last which St Patrick's lost, Shelbourne looked comfortably the better side during the first period, moving the ball fluently to the wings and giving the home side all sorts of problems around their area.

It's a tribute to the team which Pat Dolan has assembled that they came from three down to almost salvage a draw. That night they simply ditched a game-plan that wasn't working at half-time and tried something new when the situation called for it. It's what has made them the most interesting, if not always the prettiest, side to watch in the campaign so far.

In the prettiness stakes, Shelbourne still come home ahead of the pack with a bit to spare. They have not quite the same depth of their rivals and in recent weeks they have missed some of the width from deep which Declan Geoghegan and Pascal Vaudequin provided before they got injured. Even with a somewhat different appearance, however, from early in the season when their first-half displays in Kilmarnock and Inchicore were truly outstanding, they have earned the majority of their wins with stylish displays.

If the likes of Mark Rutherford, Dessie Baker, Tony Sheridan and Stephen Geoghegan play as well as they can this weekend, then everybody, whether they're at home or in Tolka, can be sure of a good night's entertainment.

Whether the Shelbourne strike-force is allowed to play well is another thing. The success enjoyed by St Patrick's so far this season has been based in no small part on the strength of its central defensive unit: the movement of Packie Lynch, the power of Colin Hawkins and the reliability of Trevor Wood. There aren't too many strikers about who've had a good night out with these three.

Even when Dolan opted to play three up front recently, sacrificing some defensive cover in midfield, they have looked tremendously solid at the back. When a side concedes just one goal in eight games, it would be fairly remarkable if it wasn't making some sort of impact on the title race.

Add to their defensive strength the return to top form of Martin Reilly over the past three weeks and the consistency since the start of the season of Eddie Gormley, and it's not hard to see why they fancy their chances of making it 12 games without a loss on Friday.

Defeat or a draw for the leaders, though, would doubtless prove popular with the rest of the teams that retain an interest in the title hunt. Derry certainly need the leaders to be defeated if they are to have any chance of getting back into the race. Defeat or a draw would suit Cork, particularly if they beat Drogheda on Sunday. Of the rest, Shamrock Rovers still have hopes of playing their way back into the final shakedown.

For a largely neutral television audience, though, the result will be largely irrelevant. Up and down the country they, the potential customers which the league has to attract, will tune in and make a snap decision on whether the National League is worth bothering with.

St Patrick's recent record in this sort of situation is not so great. When more than 20,000 turned up to see them provide the opposition for Shamrock Rovers in their first game at the RDS the game was dismal. Many of those who attended, one suspects, have not seen the inside of a club ground here since. When Cork City returned to Turner's Cross, the Supersaints were on hand once again to help bore another bumper attendance. Here's hoping that it's a case of third-time lucky.

In a week which started with the would-be Dublin Dons and Southampton showing just how awful the Premiership can be at its worst, it would be marvellous if the two best teams in the country just now took the opportunity to show just how good the National League can be at its best.