THIS weekend marks the beginning of what is expected to be a nail-biting finale in the Clarendon/Captain’s Bakery Major League.

With just three games remaining in the season, three teams are locked in what continues to be an intriguing title race, while six sides are set to make the relegation battle an equally exciting affair.

With a three-point lead at the top of the 10-team standings, dazzling newcomers Four Paths are heavily favoured to clinch the title ahead of early pacesetters and fellow promoted side Jamalco, while York Town and Longwood seem intent on making a real fuss at the other end of the table.

Perennial contenders New Bowens are now ranked as outsiders to win their second Major League title in three seasons, but will have to depend on results elsewhere to do so.

What makes this particular title race so consuming is the fact that the top-three teams still have each other to play, which means more twists and turns are likely before the champions are crowned.

Four Paths (36) host New Bowens (31) at the Four Paths Community Centre on April 26, while Jamalco (33) and Bowens will lock horns in a south east Clarendon derby at Wembley Sports Club on May 5, the last day of the season.

It is, however, this Sunday’s encounter between Jamalco and Four Paths at Wembley that has all the ingredients of a real title decider.

As things stand, the visiting Four Paths side could lose the game and still go on to win the title. Not only are they three points clear of Jamalco, they also boast a slender, but crucial two-goal advantage over their opponents.

A victory could, therefore, bring the south west Clarendon outfit within touching distance of their first silverware as it would open up a six-point gap with just two games to go.

On the flipside, a 3-0 win for Jamalco will see them regaining top-spot on goal difference and set up a real dog-fight for the remaining two games. Such a heavy scoreline, however, seems unlikely, given the short history between the sides.

In their two previous meetings, dating back to last season’s Division One quarter-final, neither team was able to produce a winner, with the games ending in 0-0 and 1-1 stalemates.

Given that he is fit and gets the nod from coach Garfield Carney up front, teenage striker Roshane Sharpe could be Jamalco’s best chance of breaching Four Paths’ defence, which is second only to Jamalco’s.

The Denbigh High daCosta Cupper is still very much a work-in-progress — not yet fully developed physically and as a 15-year-old can be naïve at times — but seems to have a genuine knack for scoring important goals.

Meanwhile, for the first time in three seasons, the relegation scrap should generate as much excitement as the title race, with six teams — Longwood (10), York Town (12), Gimme-Me-Bit (13), Rock River (15), Milk River (16) and Original Hazard (17) —mathematically still in danger of being demoted to the Division One.