Athletic's Jordan Joblin-Hall in between Taranaki's Peter Kelbrick and Kyle Graham-Luke back in June. Photo/Bevan Conley
It'll be battle stations for Wanganui Athletic today, as their bitter rivals Team Taranaki return to Wembley for the Lotto Federation League Cup final at 2pm.
Meanwhile, Wanganui City trudge over to Skoglund Park in Palmerston North to face the North End Development squad in the Western Premiership.
Wanganui teams have always maintained a healthy hatred for our northern neighbours when it comes to sports, but the rivalry that's emerged between Wanganui Athletic and Team Taranaki this year has added more than a little spice each time these two teams have played.
While Athletic have come out on tops in the last two encounters, including the game which clinched the league title a mere few weeks ago, Taranaki never turn up with anything but victory on their mind and that form of mentality will ensure today's fixture will be a firecracker.
But Athletic have found the wobbles again in their last couple of games, suffering from a depleted squad through injury, and barely scraping through to take three points each time.
They will need to get out on the pitch with renewed vigour and desire if they are to withstand the Taranaki juggernaut today, as the New Plymouth team will still be smarting from their last visit which saw their chance of progressing to the big Central League slip away, and they will be turning up with a point to prove.
Athletic are likely to be without goalkeeper Nick Hayward again, while he rests his injured knee and focuses on making a comeback for the Central League playoffs, which will put Athletic's three-man defensive line under an added level of pressure.
But with the experience in bucket loads sitting in the middle of the park, and in the attacking line, the Reds will no doubt look to the likes of James Oxtoby and Troy Smith to boss the midfield and provide plenty of attacking options for their goal-scoring machine Josh Smith.
While Josh Smith may often get shots wide of the mark and miss good opportunities, you don't get awarded the golden boot for nothing.
He and his strike partner Anthony Bell will need to be aggressive today, and put everything away that comes to them.
This will be an epic battle, with passion sure to be spilling out all over the park, meaning referee Matt Conger will need to ensure his man management skills are up to scratch, before he has to dive into his pocket to issue card to keep control.
If this game goes to extra time, then I'm picking Taranaki to take it, as Athletic's lack of squad depth will show through in a lack of stamina to push on.
But if the Reds can go ahead in regular time, you can be sure Taranaki will have Intercity on speed-dial, and be requesting they get their biggest bus to Wembley quick smart.
Last weekend didn't occur for Wanganui City, or at least that will be the mentality of coach Kelvin Francis as his team looks to rebound from two poor showings in previous weekends.
You can guarantee the blue-collar boys would have received an extra special bit of training over the week as Francis tried to drag his team back up by the bootstraps and return them to their dominant ways.
It may have been a bit of complacency has crept into the squad, after enjoying a hard-earned run of results for an unbelievable 14 rounds, going not only unbeaten, but not having dropped a single point.
But this weekend, things must change.
While North End sit just one point off the foot of the Western Premiership table, a loss or a draw today would be disastrous in City's chances of moving back into the Federation League next year.
But City have a squad that overflows confidence on their day, and they truly are a great testament to what Wanganui football can offer.
A 7-point buffer sits between them and second-placed Hokowhitu.
Without doubt though, City can rely on the central defensive pairing of Adrian Ngaau and Dylan 'Horse' Howells to provide a solid foundation from which to relaunch their campaign.
These two have been the bedrock for the City squad all season, and have put in 100 per cent every game.
It's not surprising they get a mention in every match report.
But the burden this week will fall upon central midfielder Chris Annabell, and captain James Satherly to keep the team on track, and not accept mediocrity from the players.
Both Jamie and Luke Lambe will also need to be awake from the first whistle.
However, they do have an 11-0 thumping to their record in their previous fixture against North End, so this could sere as a good platform to build upon. Central Football's score predictor picks this to be a 6-1 victory to City. That's a fair estimation.