Marist Celtic and City Braves recovered from heavy defeats last week to battle out a 1-1 draw at Wembley Park in the Wanganui Charity Cup on Saturday.
Points on the board were important for both given that Western Premiership hotshots Wanganui City and Wanganui Athletic now have two wins each and look likely to take up two of the four semifinal places.
That would leave Celtic, Braves, Athletic Cosmos and City Development battling it out for the two remaining spots in the 99-year-old competition.
City's first team gained three points for the victory against clubmates in the development side, but they were made to work hard in a close 2-1 win. And, similarly, the evergreen Cosmos made their Strong Electrical Athletic first XI graft to earn a 3-2 result.
Inter-club fixtures are often hard to play, with the senior side expected to win handsomely, and usually plenty of banter between the players. But the two underdogs - City Development and Cosmos - showed plenty of dogged determination not to be outshone and the message was that they are not to be taken lightly.