One win to the Royals, one to the students — so winner takes all today.
A place in the Chatham Cup quarterfinals awaits either the South City Royals or Otago University when the Dunedin clubs play at the odd hour of 11am at the Caledonian Ground today.
The Royals have had the better season, having sealed the southern men’s premiership three weeks ago, while the students left it late to seal third place and qualification for the South Island league.
But the games between them were split.
University won 2-0 on April 10, and the Caversham-Dunedin Technical merged side won 2-1 on June 5.
University coach Darren Hart said it was a relief to finish in the top three in the league.
"We made it hard on ourselves, to be honest. After the first round, we were sitting in a good position but then we lost a few games and had to do it the hard way.
"But it was nice to get there and pull it out of the fire.
"It’s given everyone some confidence."
Like many Dunedin teams at this time of year, University has had a disrupted preparation with students away on holiday.
Hart had just two first-team players at training on Tuesday, but with most back for the game, he is hoping game three with the Royals will end well for the students.
"We’re not the biggest of sides, and we’re pretty young, so it’s around whether we can limit opportunities for them to cause us damage.
"We know the areas we need to keep them away from, and we did that pretty well when we played them at the Caledonian last time."
Royals coach Richard Murray has also had players in and out in recent weeks but will nearly have a full-strength squad today.
While the Royals are having their first Chatham Cup campaign, Murray and his key men in the team understand the challenges of cup football.
"There can be a tendency to be defensive in a cup game," Murray said.
"It can sometimes be the team that takes the most risks that goes through."
There is also a catch-up game in the southern league today.
Green Island can leapfrog University with a win over Queenstown, which will finish sixth, regardless of the result.
