The 2014-15 Manx football season kicks off in earnest this weekend with a potentially massive clash in the Canada Life Premier League.
In a repeat of one of the final games of last season in the Hospital Cup, DHSOB go head-to-head with Grand Slam hopefuls St George’s at Blackberry Lane.
That game in May ended with Old Boys clinching an infamous 3-0 victory to stun their opponents and deny them another Grand Slam.
Geordies once again start the campaign as favourites to sweep all before them, though, and this game gives the men from Glencrutchery Road the chance to put down an early marker to all of their title rivals, including Old Boys.
Just days after that impressive cup final win, DHSOB went up against Chris Bass Sr’s men - this time in the league - and were on the wrong end of a 7-0 hammering and will be desperate to avoid a repeat.
While the Blackberry Lane side have lost dominant centre-back Liam Buckley to Douglas Royal, they have been busy in the transfer market with the signings of Andrew Falconer, Craig Murphy, Joey Bond, Daniel Swan, James Murphy, Michael Booth and Ryan Edge so it will be interesting to see how all these players fit in.
Geordies have, most notably, recruited St Mary’s centre-back Liam Doyle and former Old Boys winger Terry Rigaux and, while Doyle has gone back to America to continue his studies, Rigaux looked lively in the Charity Shield last week and could prove to be an astute signing.
Saints skipper Sean Quaye is likely to be missing with a knee injury but Ciaran McNulty returned from an ankle problem off the bench against St Mary’s last week so Bass Sr has a near full-strength squad to pick from.
Away from Blackberry Lane, Peel will be eager to deliver an early warning of their own when they go up against western rivals St John’s at Mullen-e-Cloie.
It has been a summer of change for the Johnners with Nick Hurt and Malcolm Blackburn having left the club. To add a bit more spice to this contest, Hurt has signed for Peel as part of the revolution under Steve Falconer.
Josh Kelly and Adam Cregeen have both made the switch to Douglas Road from Old Firm rivals Rushen Utd, while the prolific Ashley Webster has joined from Laxey.
As such, many are tipping Peel to be Geordies’ main rivals for the title this year so expect them to get off to a winning start here.
Newly-promoted Gymns and Ayre United both face tricky starts to life back in the Premier League against Corinthians and Laxey respectively.
Both will be keen to put some early points on the board as they bid to survive relegation but will be hard-pushed to get anything against their more established Premier League opponents.
Elsewhere, Rushen begin life under new manager Ben Qualtrough with a trip up the west coast to take on Michael United at Balleira Road.
While Josh Kelly and Adam Cregeen have left Croit Lowey, the Spaniards have been boosted by the signings of Sam Kebble, Karl Staniford, Sam Taylor, Mark Potts and Dean Kearns.
During the summer, club stalwart Barney Kelly stepped down as manager and has been replaced by Paul Corlett and Anthony Corkill so an interesting season is in store for the duo as they bid to extend their stay in the top flight of Manx football.
Liam Harrison has joined which should boost their fire power and he will need to get scoring on a regular basis if they are to avoid getting dragged into a dogfight near the foot of the table.
Expect a close game at Balleira Road but Rushen should have enough about them to get Qualtrough’s campaign off to a winning start.
An interesting game could unfold at the Bowl where St Mary’s welcome Union Mills. Both sides now have different managers from last season, with Mark Gorman and Joedy Scarffe replacing Sam Kenny and Chris Cain respectively.
Despite suffering penalty heartbreak in the Charity Shield, the Saints impressed in that match and the signing of Mark Wolfenden looks a good one as he should compliment strike partner Steven Priestnal well as they begin their assault on the title.