Take your pick – the AIC First XI football premiership has been blown wide open heading into an intriguing sixth round on Saturday.

St Patrick’s College, Marist College Ashgrove, Iona College, Villanova College and St Laurence’s College sit within one point of each on the top of the table after a fascinating fifth round.

St Patrick’s and Ashgrove experienced their first losses of the season – Padua dented Back to Shorncliffe Day with a 5-0 win while Ashgrove fell 2-1 to Villanova

Padua were excellent, riding a hat-trick from Trent Millard to extinguish St Patrick’s chances of an unbeaten season.

The home team fought hard but goals to Artie Nicholls and Oscar Bergman ensured Padua would return into the the premiership fight after two earlier losses.

St Patrick’s will face Villanova, which scored twice in the first half to inflict Ashgrove’s first loss of the season. Captain Peter Klassen and Terry Solomon scored for Villanova despite the wonderful efforts of Ashgrove goalkeeper George Oates.

Ashgrove fought back with a goal to Zach Kierpal, who almost grabbed a double before the ball bounced off the post in a tense finish.

St Laurence’s burst into title contention with a 3-0 win over the highly-rated Iona.

Jean Manirambona scored twice for St Laurence’s while an own goal during a desperate defensive scramble from Iona sealed the three-goal margin.

St Peter’s Lutheran College still have hopes of a premiership after they followed their 3-0 win over Villanova in round four with a 4-1 win over St Edmund’s College at Tivoli last weekend.

St Patrick’s and Ashgrove remain on 10 points, one ahead of Iona, St Laurence’s and Villanova heading into the final two rounds.

This weekend’s matches include the showdown between Villanova and St Patrick’s at Villanova Park while Ashgrove travels to Banyo to meet the in-form Padua.

St Laurence’s and St Peter’s meet at Runcorn while St Edmund’s hosts Iona.