Chatham Cup football always produces interesting clashes, and it should be no different this weekend.
In two interesting ties, Melchester Sharks plays Roslyn-Wakari, and Northern Hearts hopes to knock out high-flying Otago University.
Melchester's most famous player was Roy Race, who once played in a World Cup final, broke his leg, and yet played on and scored a hat trick.
Hard to believe unless you are a fan of the Roy of the Rovers comic. Roy played for that fictitious team, Melchester Rovers, and was read under the bed covers by generations of schoolboys all over the world.
Some of the present Melchester side, which is in fifth place in Footballsouth's fourth division, may need telescopes to find their opponents in the standings - Roslyn is 29 places higher, sitting second in the premier division.
But cup football is all about upsets, and tucked away in coach Sam Buxton's side are a few old heads, such as Paul Cameron and Darren Munro, who have played senior football in years past.
A slightly bemused Roslyn still wonders how teams placed lower in the FPL have been given a cup bye. But coach Colin Thom is still missing some players and said the tie would be useful to ''solidify team shape''.
At Logan Park, University plays Timaru side Northern Hearts. Lest the scarfies think this is another mismatch, it should be noted Hearts has won the Timaru senior competition six years in a row.
At the Caledonian Ground, one Dunedin team has to exit the competition. Northern plays Green Island and, while Northern is third-bottom in the FPL, the club has a proud history, having won the Chatham Cup in 1959 and 1961, and reaching the final eight more times.
Green Island leads the FPL with an undefeated record this year and must start favourite in the cup tie.
Mosgiel travels to Invercargill to play Old Boys on the artificial turf, Waihopai hosts Grants Braes at Surrey Park and Queens Park plays Southend United.
Caversham and Dunedin Technical were given first-round byes.
