The Northern Inland Premier League kicked off last weekend, but all four Armidale sides were on the road and while only one game is set down for Armidale tomorrow, it will be a cracker.

Arch rivals North Armidale Redmen and South Armidale Scorpions will clash at Phil Wheaton Oval in what is sure to be one of the matches of the season.

There will be a bit of extra spice to the rivalry after South knocked North out of the FFA Cup in the preseason.

The Redmen got their season off to a winning start last weekend with a 4-2 victory at Moree behind a hat-trick from Declan Druitt, while the Scorpions weren’t able to keep their stunning preseason form going in Gunnedah, going down 5-3 in a high-scoring affair.

North coach Andy Lennon said his players wouldn’t need much firing up for tomorrow’s fixture.

“It’s a good opportunity for us to get one back,” he said.

“Getting knocked out of a cup always hurts so it’s good we get to have another crack at them only a couple of weeks later.”

Lennon wasn’t reading too much into either his side’s opening round win, or the Scorpions’ loss.

“We’re two or three weeks away from full strength,” he said.

“Souths are going to be a tough one.

“It will be an interesting game.”

The Redmen fell behind 2-nil early before storming over the top of Moree in the second half, but Lennon said they can’t afford to give South an early lead.

“We’ve got to start games better,” he said.

“We have to make sure teams don’t get on top of us early.”

Players are slowly starting to flow back in for the Redmen after a disrupted preseason, with forward Chris Kelly expected to return against the Scorpions.

The only other northern conference match this weekend sees East Armidale travel to Inverell to take on Joeys FC.

East go into the match on a high after a solid 1-nil over North Companions in Tamworth last weekend.

Demon Knights have the bye.