PHOTO/FILE
The main focus will revolve around Wembley Park tomorrow when Wanganui Athletic's Woman's 1sts host Stop Out from Capital Football at 1pm in the first leg of their play-off series to win a berth in next season's Women's Central League competition.
After the bitter pill of losing 1-0 to Moturoa AFC in the Women's Federation Cup final last weekend, coach Dave Downes will need his girls to put that sole loss for the season so far behind them and concentrate on their Wellington visitors.
Stop Out come into the match full of confidence and having experienced just one loss all season, way back in their first fixture. The series will determine a winner over two matches, home and away.
Should points be shared, it will come down to differential first, and should that be tied still, the infamous away goal rule will prevail.
With an away goal technically worth two should a countback be required, it could see Athletic playing a defensive-oriented fixture to stifle their opponents' away goal tally.
It's probably not within Athletic's nature given their free-scoring all season, but they would be wise not to open up tomorrow's game.
Whatever tactics Downes takes into the match, it will be paramount that home-ground support is utilised. A good crowd can lift any side.
With junior football done and dusted for 2013, and with local leagues and travelling competitions alike all over, all that remains to finish off the season is the local Charity Competition.
Today will see the Bowl component of this competition reach its finale.
Set up as the main fixture this afternoon, Marist Casuals and Athletic Cosmos Classics will face off at 2.30pm on Ground 1.
Both sides coming from the Championship (bottom six) of the Local League have played their way through over the past two weekends, in multiple but shortened fixtures. It was the Cosmos Classics who had the wood in that small pool play.
Little will matter for both sides' last 90 minutes of the season as they go for it to add some furniture to their respective trophy cabinets.
Athletic have plenty of renowned names in their squad list, many having played at the highest levels in days gone by Brian Hickling, Russell Burney, Craig Edmonds, Derek Visser, Bryan Stewart, Mike Van Delden, Michael Cronin, Gregor Vallely, Phil Lendrum, Gavin Parsons, Uwe Kroll, Memo Musa, Robert Spicer, Tony Clarke, Brendan Gammeter.
Each side should expect plenty of support from around the traps, no one more so than the affable Jason King, who with Russell Eades ran the hugely successful First Kicks/Fun Football Programmes this winter.
Expect to see plenty of those youngsters getting along to support their mentors this afternoon.
Those two, of course, cannot expect to win by themselves and will be joined by Marist's finest in the following Ernest Yalden, John McDonald, Russell Ferguson, David Newman, Michel Manning, Andy Buchanan, Grant Eades, Cameron Dale, Brendan Haughian, Paul Maguire, John Dale, Adam Browne, Stephen Maguire, and player/coach Wayne Ruscoe.
While Athletic have had the upper hand all season, Marist are starting to come right, even though it may the wrong end of the season.
Next weekend will see the Charity Cup and Plate finals being played for, with two games this afternoon to find the finalists.
Castlecliff A will look to push for one of those spots when they take on City's U19s.
City Hammers and Marist Celtic meet again to find out whether it will be a 12.30pm (Plate) or 2.30pm kick off (Cup final) in next Saturday's showdown.