EVOLUTION Painting & Decorating Wanganui City host their old rivals, Team Taranaki, at Wembley Park at 2.30pm today in what will be another chance for City to prove their ability to spoil Taranaki's fine run of form in the Lotto Federation League.
Meanwhile, the Wanganui City Renovators and City Reserves are away to Palmerston North to face Massey and the Red Sox Manawatu As respectively in the Western Premiership.
Devon Homes Wanganui Athletic have the weekend off after the Linton 1sts, based at the Linton Army Camp, defaulted due to players away on active duty.
Team Taranaki have been rampant in the Federation League this season, currently sitting six points clear at the top of the table, and are one step from a chance to play off for a Central League position next season.
While Taranaki have averaged just over five goals a game, City have been a thorn in their side on both of the occasions the two teams have met, keeping them to two goals, and on both occasions pushing the leaders to their limits.
Coach Kelvin Francis was guarded when spoken to yesterday, clearly still frustrated at the inability of the club's premier team to field a squad last weekend, but letting little slip as to what they would be doing today to stem the Taranaki tide.
"We know they read the papers, so I won't be saying too much.
"But we will be looking to frustrate them where we can, and we'll take the opportunities when they present themselves to us.
"Taranaki only need three points from their next four matches to earn that play-off spot, so it's a bit of a given really.
"But we want to make sure they don't get those points today.
"We don't want to be the team that give them that opportunity.
"Even to hold them to a draw would be a victory in my eyes."
City could well be carrying a light squad into today's fixture, with injuries and illnesses affecting the boys in gold, and forcing Francis to look beyond his Reserve and Development team, who themselves are reluctant to contribute players to the firsts, and instead seek reinforcements from the club's local league teams.
I'm picking this to be an entertaining match, with Taranaki clearly arriving with intention to seal their season early, and City unwilling to be the enablers of their Central League aspirations, so it could well end in a stalemate.
The City Renovators will be feeling positive after last weekend's draw against the Western Premiership's leaders Hokowhitu, but know they will have their work cut out for them as they travel to Palmerston North to face the Massey 1sts.
Massey tore apart the City Reserves last week, after the local side had established an early lead, so are not a team to be taken lightly.
The big question remains as to whether the Renovators can continue their form, after such a helter-skelter season, and make a massive improvement upon their previous effort against Massey, where they capitulated to a 9-0 defeat.
My pick is this still to be a bridge too far for the Renovators, even though they will have the services of Ben Toyne and Neihana Kahl, absent the last time these teams met, however the score may be a little more respectable.
The Wanganui City Reserves will be taking a bare team to Skoglund Park today as they face one of the form teams in the league this season, the Red Sox Manawatu As.
The Reserves lost 2-0 the last time these two teams met, but not being able to travel with the benefit of a strong squad may cause the Reserves some headaches on the pitch.
Last weekend's loss may also be affecting the morale of the team.
So along with key midfield Marley Stynder out with a ruptured Achilles and Chris Annabell and Jason Fergusson still serving suspensions, the lack of seniority to direct the team on the park may also hamper their ability to get up over top of Red Sox today.
I'm picking this to be another unfortunate loss for the Reserves, and could well blow out to a big score.