Green Island plays its last match in the Footballsouth Premier League today, but opponent Dunedin Technical has four games left to preserve its championship hopes at Sunnyvale.
It is the classic minnow from the bottom of the league nipping at leader Technical, which is 27 points ahead of coach Rod Fleming's Island side.
But recent Technical results have included a surprising 1-1 draw with Grants Braes, and marginal wins over Mosgiel and University, which suggest Mike Fridge's side is not impregnable.
So Technical, still smarting from its Chatham Cup exit, needs to get back on the rails, with Mosgiel just three points behind, and both Roslyn-Wakari and Caversham five points behind the leader.
Green Island leapt from the doldrums recently to string together three consecutive wins, and went close to four when a last-minute goal caused a 4-3 loss to Roslyn.
But that exciting blast of form evaporated when Mosgiel crushed the Island 8-0 at Sunnyvale, and the question now is whether coach Fleming can coax another strong performance from his side in its final match.
On paper, the closest encounter will be between Mosgiel and Caversham in a rare senior game at Bayfield, due to generally poor conditions at Dunedin sportsfields.
Mosgiel last week matched Caversham's exhilarating attack style with those eight goals against the Island, while Caversham showed its teeth by scoring four goals to beat Onehunga and earn a Chatham Cup semifinal against Napier.
In the first FPL round in May, Caversham beat Mosgiel 3-0 with goals from Patrick Fleming - now off to join a professional Swedish club - Darren Overton and Anton Ross. Clearly, Caversham is on a charge, and possibly its key player is Overton.
Mosgiel on the other hand, has been playing without the influential Mike McGarry, whose presence might just tip the scales if he is fit enough to play.
Moved from the Caledonian Ground to Logan Park 2, another tight match beckons between University and Roslyn-Wakari. And both those teams have recently lost influential players.
University coach and captain Luke Macris sustained what looked like a serious injury in his last game against Northern. Roslyn has replaced Tim Mather with Sam Mepham at centreback, and Tom Connor has moved up front.
Last time out, Zac Rathbone scored University's goal in a 1-0 win, and Roslyn will be looking to reverse that result.
Grants Braes, which has only lost once in five games, travels south to play Spirit FC, and is just three points behind the Invercargill side.
Without key midfielder Ross MacKenzie, Queenstown hosts Northern. Only one point separates both sides, so the result is vital.
Tomorrow, the national women's knockout cup match between Dunedin Technical and Roslyn-Wakari, which was abandoned due to blizzard conditions last week, will be played at 1pm on Culling Park.
