An 11-goal salvo by Dunedin Technical last week in the Chatham Cup must have given Invercargill Old Boys food for thought, regarding promotion into Footballsouth's Premier League next year.
Cup ties can cause upsets, but may also be a yardstick that indicates relative strengths in differing areas and competitions.
Nelson Suburbs hammered neighbours FC Nelson 9-1 in their Cup derby, and amalgamated side Cashmere Technical put Halswell to the sword with a 6-1 scoreline in Christchurch.
In Invercargill, Roslyn-Wakari beat the venerable Queens Park 4-1, but not without the drama of two penalties, well saved by Romanian-born Park keeper Cosmin Teodorescu.
Thirty goals in three paragraphs suggests that attacks are outgunning defences, and unless the trend changes, Technical and Caversham threaten to race away 11 points ahead of the FPL pack after this weekend.
Roslyn has home advantage over Technical, playing at Ellis Park, while Caversham is at Tonga Park against University.
Many FPL sides struggle for depth, but last week Technical fielded several old and new faces not seen recently.
Richard Smith looked fit and keen, and Mike Flaws similarly, but a few spectators squinted to recognise Nick Meglinski, Tom Beauchamp, keeper Tim Ford, Brad Rodden and so on.
Coach Mike Fridge appreciated the quality of his reserve depth, and the opportunity to rest key players.
Roslyn coach Colin Thom's team sits in third place, eight points behind Technical, and would dearly like to narrow that gap.
Captain Sam Mepham has been a prime motivator for Roslyn, with strong support from veteran keeper Peter Evans and centrebacks James Watson, Chris Fernando and, returned from Australia, Tom Connor.
A key factor in Roslyn's line-up is the form of striker James Govan, who can be a match-winner. However, although there is quality support from the likes of Aajay Cunningham, the Roslyn talent is young and lightweight, and possibly a year away from reaching its potential.
Caversham needs a win over University to stay in touch with the leader. Two points behind Technical is a position that coach Richard Murray hopes to change.
Caversham and University both play high-speed attacking football, and are capable of beating each other. Last time out, Caversham won 3-1 with goals from Mike Smith, Andy Ridden and Harley Rodeka.
Much is said about University's Guilherme Melo, who equalised in that match, but the scarfies now also include Anthony Tarrant, who has emerged as the nearest thing to a true striker in a league scarce of such specialist players.
However, Caversham has to be favourite as it possesses the FPL's best attack, which has netted 20 goals, while conceding a stingy six in eight matches.
Mosgiel has been playing improved football, and at Memorial Park should get something from Queenstown Rovers despite not having won in the league since early April.
On the other hand, Queenstown - now above Mosgiel - will be aiming for its third win on the trot.
At the Caledonian, the FPL's two bottom sides square off.
Northern and Grants Braes both have identical statistics, having scored seven goals and conceded an average of three per game, 48 between them.
Braes may even struggle to field a team, after three red cards last week.
