The haves and the have-nots - that could describe the Football South Premier League this season.
Caversham leads, and Mosgiel and Dunedin Technical are close behind, but the other four teams are some distance back.
With only a four-point spread at the top, it guarantees tension since anything less than a win can cause a slide down towards the pack.
Green Island gets its chance to cause an upset when coach Malcolm Fleming's side plays leader Caversham at Sunnyvale today.
The Island looked like a kingmaker in earlier games against Mosgiel, but stumbled badly last time out with a heavy 4-0 loss to Dunedin Technical.
Caversham was not at its best last week in the 2-2 draw with Mosgiel, but showed spirit to climb back into the game with a Tore Waechter goal and an 83rd minute equaliser by Michael Hogan.
However, coach Tim Horner will demand no more slip-ups, and with yet another FPL championship in the club's sights, Caversham is likely to test the agility of Island gloveman Josh Dijkstra.
Technical faces Northern at the Caledonian Ground, where last week the Magpies notched their first win of the season, beating University 2-0, with goals by Taylor Quirk and Paolo Timajo.
Northern coach Murray Devereux said his side, which ran Caversham close earlier this season before losing 3-2, was better than its position (second bottom) suggested.
''We will be looking to consolidate, building on the win over Varsity, but will need another big effort to upset Tech,'' he said.
Technical has lost two games this season, to Mosgiel (2-1) and Caversham (3-1), but now has a more settled attacking formation, and coach Aaron Burgess will be looking for at least a repeat of the 4-0 win over Northern in the first round.
Roslyn-Wakari plays University, which is turning into a wildcard capable of beating anyone, but has not translated its quality play into goals, and coach Darren Hart can not believe his side is bottom of the FPL with just one point.
Roslyn coach Colin Thom has also had injury and player defection problems. Long-time regular Fraser Cameron has headed overseas, and Patrick Obanda and Ben O'Farrell are on the injury list.
Roslyn has played good football, with Blair Bates and Rupert Mark lively in attack, but has not converted enough chances into goals.
Last Sunday, Roslyn had a valuable run-out against the Milk Cup squad, with both Thom and Milk Cup coach Neil Mackenzie seeing good aspects of play.
Injuries and other commitments caused the cancellation of this week's friendly between the youngsters and Mosgiel, so the Plainsmen will have to be content with monitoring results of other games.
