Squad trains hard in preparation for play-off matches
Devon Homes Wanganui Athletic will be looking to bounce back after a lacklustre performance last weekend as they make the short trip to Palmerston North today to take on the PN Marist Reserves.
Today also sees a flurry of activity for football at Wembley Park with Wanganui City hosting Red Sox Manawatu A and plenty of great match-ups on offer on the surrounding fields in the men's and women's competitions.
Athletic may have scored a big win last weekend, but their performance on the pitch was possibly one of their worst the hallowed ground at Wembley has seen in some time.
The coaching staff of the Athletic team were well aware of this and will have worked the squad intensely over the last week as they build their preparations for their impending Central League play-off matches.
Today also sees Athletic in with a chance to reach the top of the Group A standings, with a win or a draw being enough to send them to the peak.
Anthony Bell and Josh Smith will be hoping to be able to put in some shooting practice today, and get their eye back in, against a team the Reds have historically performed well against.
It is touch and go on injured goalkeeper Nick Hayward, who suffered a nasty knock to his knee in last week's fixture, which may force Athletic to look to their reserve custodians to fill the massive hole that will be left by his absence.
This could be an easy match for Athletic to take lightly, but I still see them getting up over Marist easily and I predict a 4-2 scoreline if Hayward is not between the sticks.
Wanganui City ended up with the day off last weekend, as the weather forced their fixture to be postponed.
Today they return to Wembley to host fourth-placed Red Sox A in their Western Premiership match-up which kicks off at 12.30pm.
With their nine-point competition lead still intact, City coach Kelvin Francis will again be reminding his charges of the desire to finish the season without dropping a competition point.
Being 14 games in and still having conceded just three goals, City also boast the biggest offensive record in the competition, notching 67 goals over the same period.
It should be much of the same again today for City, who will be also conscious of the fact that last time they had a week off, they started slowly but managed to pull away in the second half and find their usual form.
With City on the big, wide pitch of Wembley's No1 field, their usual expansive game will be able to be played, and should lead to plenty of goals being scored.
I'm picking a 6-0 victory to City if they can get off to a quick-paced start and control the game early.
In the first round of football on the outer fields of Wembley at 12.30pm, the Men's Division 2 competition continues with Castlecliff United going up against the Wanganui High School (WHS) Internationals.
United are coming off the back of a 6-0 victory, while WHS recorded a controversial 1-all draw in the last round, so both teams should be up for a good match.
The City Renovators and City Thirsties play the first of today's three club derbies, which sees both teams hungry to take the three points from the fixture.
The Marist Casuals travel to Collegiate to take on the Collegiate Boys 1st XI on their home ground.
The Casuals and Collegiate will feel aggrieved by the last round's results, while the match at the school grounds in previous years has always provided plenty of entertainment and I doubt this one will be any different.
The Women's James Cup competition kicks off today as well, with an early start for the Wanganui High School Girls and Girls College teams when they face off at 10.30am.
The late session at Wembley at 2.30pm has plenty of great matches.
The Castlecliff St Anthony's team will hope to continue their run and put a stop to the Athletic Reserves' early dominance in the Men's Division 1 competition.
Meanwhile current leaders, the Total Automotive City Hammers, will be trying to break down the Athletic Cosmos to claim another three points and keep their grip on the top of the table.
Two more derbies are also played this round, with the Marist Celtic and Marist Boys battling for bragging rights, while the Castlecliff Braves and the St John Castlecliff 1sts will also aim to prove who is better in what promises to be an aggressive and competitive match.
The late session also sees two more of the Women's James Cup matches being played out, with the Clive Barritt Marist Women facing the Castlecliff Scrappers, and the Wanganui Collegiate Girls topping out a festival of football on the Collegiate grounds when they host the Castlecliff Saints.