A falter last weekend has made the task slightly more difficult for the boys in gold, with Palmerston North Boys High School snapping at their heels - the two teams sitting on the same points, separated by City's better goal difference.
Coach Kelvin Francis will look for his team to play with a desire to put out a more consistent effort than their previous outing against Red Sox, where City had the measure of the visitors for the majority of the match, surging to a strong 2-0 lead, only to take their foot off at the critical time, and concede two late goals to finish the match with a draw.
City need to draw on their recent strong performances - three wins from their last four outings.
Showing they can play good football under pressure, as their mentality is in the right space, I'm going to back City to walk away with three points.
The City Reserves are enjoying a late spring in their form, and will be looking to continue their drive against the Marist Thirds today.
Three wins, a draw and a loss on the form sheet from their last five matches paints a pretty picture for a side that spent the early half of their season languishing on a single competition point.
But it's the same form record shown for their opponents today, who were once the whipping boys of the competition.
A strong showing on the road for the Reserves could see them leapfrog the club's development team, and move up to seventh place, with only goal difference keeping them stuck behind the Marist Thirds.
My pick is for the Reserves to get up again for this one, and dig deep, putting a few past Marist, and claiming a well-earned victory to repay their persistence through the season.
While there will not be many matches in the premier leagues held at Wembley today, there certainly will not be a lack of action, with the last instalment of the City vs Athletic club derby gracing the main ground at 12.30pm.
I have spoken before about the effect a derby match can have on the two combatants, with the ability to find something extra deep down inside, which was shown in the last instalment between the City Reserves and Wanganui Athletic.
The Reserves, who were the definite underdogs in the match, reached right down to the pit of their pride and usurped the high-flying Athletic team to win.
But today might well be a completely different story.
The City Renovators might bear the club name, but one cannot help but feel that Tex von Kwiatowski's team play less for club pride as opposed to team identity, and that could be costly today.
You can guarantee Athletic, smarting after some poor performances against lower ranked sides, will look to the lion on their club crest and draw on a long history of club rivalry to find the determination to teach the young development team a lesson in what it means to play for your club in a derby.
With the added incentive of having capitulated to the City Reserves in the last derby, you can guarantee for the entire 90-minute fixture the Reds will not be looking to let down their club-mates, young and old, past and present.
Both sides are technically capable squads, and the football will be entertaining and exciting, with each looking to play the other off the park in a search for supremacy.
With the belief it is club pride which will separate the two teams during the 90 minute encounter, my pick is Athletic to walk away with a sound victory.
