Photo Sharon Francies
If ever there was a weekend for redemption, this would be it for Evolution Painting and Decorating Wanganui City, as they travel to Timona Park in an effort to steal three competition points from the Feilding 1sts in the Lotto Federation League.
The Western Premiership sees both City teams away, with the Reserves and Renovators playing at Skolund Park in Palmerston North against the Hokowhitu Rangers and Red Sox Manawatu Rovers respectively.
Devon Homes Wanganui Athletic feature at home on Wembley Park as they host the Massey Men's 1sts.
The reintroduction to the Federation League may have been tough for the City, as reported earlier this week, but the results have not fairly shown the capability of the players in gold who take the park each game.
With a good core of experience, and plenty of exciting young players stepping up to the mantle, it's been a surprise City has not fared better on the table standings, as the midway point of the season approaches, when they have talent to burn across the park.
However, talent alone does not win football and nothing in the world can replace persistence.
City have shown they have plenty of that though, with coach Kelvin Francis keen to embed that "never say die" attitude into his players.
City will take some hope from the fact the players are starting to come to grips with the game plan Francis has set out for them, but it's going to take a lot of work to overcome the questioning mindset which must surely be starting to creep into player psyches.
As they travel to Timona Park in Feilding to kick off at 2.30pm, they will be buoyed by the fact the home side have to date the worst defensive record in the league - conceding a mammoth 23 goals in just five games - and have also only recorded the single win.
This clearly should be the chance for City to take their chances and find that spark they need to push on for 2015.
Confidence builds winning, and winning builds confidence.
After grabbing a last-minute win last weekend, the City Renovators will be keen to build upon their momentum as they go up against the Red Sox Rovers today at 12.30pm at Skoglund Park.
Rovers sit second from the bottom on the table, and have been on the receiving end of two huge losses in their last two appearances, going down 10-1 and 7-0 to Hokowhitu and Massey.
That fact, combined with the Renovators structured build-up play and having players like Tesco Grunwald and Neihana Kahl, who have been in sublime form recently, should spell another disaster for Rovers in today's fixture.
Renovators coach Tex von Kwiatowski will be keen though to ensure his charges take the right disposition into this match, and don't underestimate their opponents.
Underestimating is what they did when thumped by the PN Marist Banshees just two weeks ago, after recording a fantastic victory over the Linton 1sts on Anzac weekend.
But if they keep to their game plan, and can keep their foot on the throat of the match, the Renovators will surely bag another three points, and announce themselves as title contenders for the remainder of the season.
The Renovators will also be looking to their clubmates, the City Reserves, to do them a favour, as they play against league leaders Hokowhitu on the pitch next door at Skoglund at 12.30pm.
This will be a tough ask for the Reserves though, as Hokowhitu love to score goals, and their young side will look to play the Reserves right off the park from the moment the first whistle sounds.
With last weekend's match nearly descending into a melee within the first 15 minutes, Reserves coach Karl Hayward will need to ensure the passionate fighting attitude he instills in his team is not misinterpreted on the pitch.
The team's desire to lift themselves off the foot of the table must be channelled into playing better football as opposed to dominating a team physically off the pitch.
A win today would help lift the self-belief of the Reserves, who have suffered horribly from not being able to hold on to a lead for 90 minutes.
Even a draw would do wonders, as taking points from the league leaders would be a superb result for this struggling team.
Back home at Wembley Park, Wanganui Athletic will host a Massey team hot after a 7-0 thumping of the Red Sox Rovers last weekend.
While Athletic's draw against Hokowhitu will be filling them with hopes of building a good season, they will need to be cautious not to be overly confident in their expectations.
But while Massey's rampant display last week will have them on a high, they have only recorded two wins from their last five games and a solid unified effort from the Reds will see Massey buckle again and fall to a loss.
A win today for Athletic could see them climb to second or third, depending on other results from the competition.