City hold whip hand in Cup final

FINAL SHOWDOWN: Wanganui City's Jamie Lambe goes in against Wanganui Athletic's Mathew Hausman during the first leg of their Charity Cup clash last Saturday.PHOTO/NEIL JONES 120915WCNJWANGFOOTBALL1

IT'S penultimate weekend for the local Charity competitions at Wembley Park today, with knockout semifinals taking place in the Plate and Bowl competitions, and the day culminating with the final leg of the Wanganui City vs Wanganui Athletic Charity Cup matches.

In the Charity Bowl semifinals, Castlecliff United take on the Athletic Weekenders, who squeaked their way into the semifinals last weekend with a fine on-field performance and other results swinging their way, while the Athletic Cosmos and the City Thirsties, this year's Division 2 champions, also battle out for the other finals berth.

I'm picking the Weekenders to be too strong for United on the day and progress to next weekend, while the Thirsties should have the rub on the Cosmos if they can use their youthful pace to overcome wily experience.

The Charity Plate sees two big semifinal clashes, with the Marist Bhoys and Castlecliff St Anthony's going toe-to- toe and both clubs feeling confident about their ability to pip the other for a spot in the Plate final.

Meanwhile the Bhoys' clubmates, Marist Celtic, face off against the City Hammers, with both teams hoping to give themselves a chance to bring some silverware back to the clubrooms.

Celtic had the better of the Hammers the last time the two teams met, but in Cup football everything can change in a heartbeat and unless a team wants to be sitting on the sidelines next weekend, they'll need to ensure they put their best foot forward to claim the result.

Both the Celtic and the Bhoys will be hoping for an all-Marist grudge match for the final next weekend, but the Hammers, who have been local league champions for several years, and St Anthony's, who won the first round of the local league this season, are always sides to be wary of and will be looking to spoil that dream and claim finals spots for themselves.

In the main game of the day, Wanganui Athletic have their work cut out for them as they head into the second leg of the Charity Cup against Wanganui City.

With City holding a 2-1 win in last week's fixture, they only need a win or a draw today to claim the Cup, but will be wary of Athletic's ability to step up in derby matches when it's needed.

Athletic know the formula is simple and have the added advantage of being the " way" team for his game, meaning that should they win today and send the tie to be measured on aggregate, any goals this afternoon will be counted as double.

City's victory last weekend set the aggregate score at 4-1 in their favour, so they know they need to keep Athletic at bay completely.

A 2-1 victory for Athletic would send the tie into extra time and penalties if required, while something like a 3-1 or 3-2 victory to Athletic would see the Reds lay claim to the Cup on aggregate.

With those formulas sitting in the back of their heads, both sides will surely be taking the field with plenty of determination not to let the other into the match.

It's sure to be a hot encounter, with plenty of attacking football spreading itself right across the wide pitch of Wembley's main ground.

So if you're looking for some free entertainment this Saturday afternoon, make your way over to Wembley Park from 12.30pm for the Bowl and Plate semi-finals, and take in the Charity Cup decider at 2.45pm on the main ground. There's sure to be fireworks.