Ryan Holden, centre, still has a chance to finish top of the Federation League goal standings heading into the second-to-last game today.
Devon Homes Wanganui Athletic have an open doorway to step back into second place in the Lotto Federation League this afternoon when they face bottom of the table Massey Men's 1sts at the university grounds.
Having thumped an underwhelming New Plymouth Rangers (10-1-4) last weekend, who will now take the bye to lick their wounds, Athletic (9-2-4) have closed to within two points of the runnerup position, which is as high as they can get with AFC Havelock North (13-1-1) cantering away with the title.
Silver is a objective that still completely motivates coach Jason King's squad, after their shocking 2016 season where they finished dead last and the punchline of some bad jokes.
Having finished the home campaign unbeaten in league games at Wembley Park, Athletic have a full squad available today for the road trip to Palmerston North.
"It's always fun when you have 15 in a 12-seater, but that's what the roof's for," laughed King.
Not doubt first to call a window seat will be Ryan Holden, who will be eyeing up the student team like a leopard stalking a gazelle.
While Holden went scoreless in the 5-0 win over Rangers, so did his rival Sam De St Croix, who still sits three goals ahead of him on 19 for the season record.
With Croix having the weekend off, Holden will want to replicate his previous success against Massey, having scored twice in both their meetings this year - the 4-0 win at Wembley on April 22 and the 3-1 away victory on June 17.
"Especially with a couple of games to go, it's going to make it interesting," said King.
"He does have a good record against them, even when he dropped down to the Reserves to play them."
Others to score against Massey this year are Scott Burney and Quinn Mailman, the latter likely to come off the bench for a 10-15 minute cameo after his knee injury in the Rangers victory.
After getting two goals against the Taranaki side, a weight is off Burney's shoulders following a very long dry spell, as he moved up to fifth in the league standings with nine.
"The relief, you can sense it after that game," said King.
"You can sense it at training too, he's always been looking."
Having scored in his last outing for the 1sts, Daniel Timmins has again been promoted from the GVCA Wanganui Athletic Reserves and will form an attacking combination with Burney.
While Massey have only one win and three draw from their 14 games, it is understandable if the students have had other priorities - the kind that show they can still be very dangerous.
"They have been winning games, just not in the league," said King.
"They really do push us, it's not a team we underestimate."
With four straight wins, Massey have made the September 2 final of the knockout Lotto Federation Cup against Ricoh PN Marist.
They will be at a disadvantage with top goal scorer Ismael Mimbi (six) sitting the weekend out after his red card last weekend, which means Joseph Freeman with five goals in 14 appearances, having played the most league games, takes over as the main man.
Meanwhile, the Big Orange Wanganui City 1sts still have absolutely no interest in coming second in the Horizons Premiership as the North End 1sts come to Wembley for their last home fixture.
It can be a little disheartening for City currently in the sense they are travelling in the wake of Hokowhitu FC Rangers, who still lead them by a solitary point and four goal differential but have been comprehensively beating sides like Feilding United and North End the week before City themselves face them, making comparisons inevitable.
Coach Kelvin Francis knows Hokowhitu will not stumble today against cellar-dwellers Marist Development, being willing to do a naked run if the impossible happened.
"Obviously, you look at what they're doing because of what we're doing," he said.
"I watched some of last week's game on Facebook, North End's defence was definitely average, to be fair.
"I hope it's the same [today]. It's hard to judge what sort of North End team are going to come here.
"Nothing less than three points is what we're after. They're keen, they're ready to go."
City just squeezed past North End 2-0 back on Skoglund Park on June 17, where Kyle Graham-Luke's second goal at the death made for a flattering scoreline.
However, City did not have Anthony Bell, who thankfully was not seriously hurt in his collision with the Feilding goalie last weekend, and with 13 goals this season is only one behind the joint leaders in Feilding's Michael Lewis and Hokowhitu's Nicholas Carrick.
"Hopefully [Carrick] doesn't knock to many in and Anthony can knock in a couple," said Francis.
More than just the tip of the spear, Bell is also crucial for the opportunities he creates, getting a lot of assists, with his team determined to avoid falling asleep for any period as they did against Feilding, given the 6-3 win needed to be better for their points differential.
As well as Bell, key defender Adrian Ngaau has declared himself fit, as the only change to last week's lineup will be Jack Jonas coming back into the midfield after recovering from illness.
Francis inspected Wembley No1 pitch after the week's rain prevented outside training sessions, and his confident his side can use the width to avoid the damp patches.
Meanwhile, the Athletic Reserves go on the road to meet Feilding at Timona Park, looking to avenge their 4-2 loss on June 17.
All games start at 2.45pm.