Hi °C | Lo °C Linfield's red hot strikers gave us all a reminder - as if we needed it - of the explosive firepower which makes the favourites to celebrate a hat-trick of Irish Premier League triumphs.
A resilient Newry City side shut out David Jeffrey's side in the first half on Saturday, but after the break, a Peter Thompson brace and further goals from Thomas Stewart, Glenn Ferguson and Mark Dickson blew the border boys away.
Next up for the Windsor Park men are fascinating back-to-back showdowns with fierce rivals Glentoran - in the Setanta Sports Cup at the Oval tonight (8.05pm) and the small matter of a potential title decider at the international venue on Saturday.
It's a massive week for both clubs and Linfield know that if they can avoid defeat on Saturday they will be virtually home and hosed as far as the title race is concerned.
And with their strikers scoring for fun, you would expect the Glentoran defence to be kept on their toes this week.
Northern Ireland international Thompson is now just one shy of his 150th Linfield goal and you wouldn't bet against him hitting that milestone against the arch enemy.
He said: "Glentoran are on a great run but we just have to keep doing what we have been doing and concentrate on ourselves.
"From a players' point of view we want to play games and the win over Derry City has set us up well in the Setanta Cup.
"We want to put ourselves in a good position for when we resume our Setanta campaign next season but there's no doubt the big one is next Saturday.
"My all round game has improved a lot this year and I should be getting better with experience. When you are playing in a good side, the chances will be created and my job is to score goals."
Harp Lager Northern Ireland Football Writers' Manager of the Month for March, David Jeffrey, said he knew Newry would be a tough nut to crack.
"I probably know nothing about the game as I thought it had 1-0 written all over it," he said.
"Glentoran have been on a superb run and this title could be settled on goal difference so I was delighted with our second half show."
City boss Gerry Flynn hailed his side's resilience in the first half but lambasted the assistant referees Andi Regan and Billy McClean after the game.
"This will probably be the first time all year that I have criticised the officials but I thought the two referee's assistants were absolutely horrendous," he said.
"Their second goal which lead to us getting a man sent off looked a mile off-side and that was the end for us.
"You can talk about grants and ground improvements but the biggest problem we have in the game is the standard of officials.
"I was pleasantly surprised by the Blues because they didn't just fire long balls up to the strikers which is what they have done against us.
"When you look at the strength of the Linfield team that's down to the international team playing here - we aren't on a level playing field, plus they have a big support.
"They have an advantage because of the money they get from internationals at Windsor while our fans dig deep to keep the club alive.
"But they have been doing it from day one, so you just have to get on with it."
