Close enough to touch

ALL HEAVYWEIGHT battles deserve a proper billing. We’ve had the Rumble in the Jungle and the Thrilla in Manilla, so let’s call tonight’s Cork City-Derry City title decider the Crunch at the Cross.

And the big question: who will land the knockout blow?

It’s one of the oldest clichés in football: the league, they say, is a marathon not a sprint. But this year’s title-race has managed to combine both. After a long, hard, often thrilling and never less than fascinating battle, the whole thing comes down tonight to a 90 minute dash for the line at Turner’s Cross.