Napier City Rovers coach Grant Hastings is rapt his team are facing Wairarapa United in the Chatham Cup football final in Palmerston North on Sunday.
No, it's not because Hastings is confident his side can lift the country's premier knockout trophy for the fifth time but because the two combatants are both central league sides from outside the "big smoke".
"Who would have thought it would come down to this ... I think it's absolutely wonderful for football that teams from regions like Wairarapa and Hawke's Bay have made it this far."
Hastings admits to having "huge respect" for the Wairarapa United squad and the effort put in by their coach Phil Keinzley to build a side capable of being competitive at the highest levels.
"It really is a remarkable achievement and you have to give Phil a lot of the credit," he said. "He's got a lot of really good players around him now and they are obviously working well as a team. It's definitely special for Wairarapa, I can just imagine what it's doing for the sport down there."
And Hastings doesn't try to hide his admiration for several of the Wairarapa United squad. For instance he rates their skipper Adam Cowan as one of the most creative players in the country and sees Dale Higham and Seule Soromon as two of the more dangerous attacking players in the central league.
"Honestly, they are strong all over the place ... you only have to look at their record to see that."
Interestingly, in the two meetings Napier City Rovers and Wairarapa United have had so far this season Wairarapa United have come out on top by a solitary goal on each occasion, with their 2-1 away win being the only loss all season for NCR at their home venue of Park Island.
Those results are, however, of no concern to Hastings leading into the Cup final as he is quick to point out both games could have gone either way on the run of play and simply showed how little there was between the two sides.
"Looking back there was nothing in them at all. It was pretty much even stevens all the way through. And I don't expect a lot of difference on Sunday. It's got all the makings of a really close and exciting game."
Like Wairarapa United, Napier City Rovers started their 2011 season campaign slowly, even more slowly than Wairarapa United, with their first five central league games being played away from home and producing just two competition points.
Coach Hastings always had confidence they had the talent to improve significantly as the season progressed and they have certainly done that, their 4-1 win over Tawa on Sunday moving them to second behind Miramar Rangers in the central league, one place ahead of Wairarapa United who lost to Miramar Rangers 3-2 on the same day.
And mixed in with their central league programme has been their unbeaten run in the Chatham Cup, the highlight of which was probably a five-goal thumping of a Miramar Rangers side which won the trophy in 2010.
"The pleasing thing is that we have kept moving in the right direction over the latter part of the season and the guys are feeling really good about themselves," Hastings said.
"Mentally they are ready for a big game and that's the way you want it to be."
The fact they have the best defensive record in the central league might suggest Napier City Rovers plays a "safety first" style of football but Hastings says those stats are more about their slow start to the season than anything else.
"I think we play a pretty positive style of football ... much like Wairarapa United really. We don't go all out attack but we don't sit back either. We'll push forward in numbers when we need to."
Sentiments which are supported by stats showing that in Stu Wilson Napier City Rovers have the leading goal scorer in the central league while Josh Stevenson and Fergus Neal have regularly made an impact with their speed down the wings.
With at least two busloads of Napier City Rovers fans already booked to travel to Palmerston North - and hundreds of others likely to travel by car - Hastings is confident his team will have strong sideline support, and he knows the Wairarapa sporting fraternity will be there in droves.
"It should be a huge crowd and, quite frankly, it's nothing more than the two teams deserve," he said.
"Everybody wants to win the Chatham Cup so it's a really big occasion ... as big as it gets for club football here."