The southern derby between Malew v Castletown is one of the standout ties in the preliminary round of the Friends Provident FA Cup on Saturday.

While local pride and bragging rights will of course be at stake, both of these teams will be hoping for a cup run to kick off 2018 and so will be fired up for this contest.

Clashes between these two teams are usually fiery affairs which can go either way and, with Town winning by the odd goal in seven the last time the sides met, expect another close contest in a match that has been switched to the Stadium on Saturday.

There’s another interesting all-Division Two clash taking place at Garey Mooar where Union Mills host Pulrose United. The visitors will be favourites to book their place in the first round proper but the Millers should make life difficult for the second division high-fliers and the elements at Garey Mooar could be a bit of a leveller.

Douglas and District face the unenviable task of travelling to Premier League top four hopefuls St John’s at Mullen-e-Cloie.

The Saints will undoubtedly begin the tie as overwhelming favourites but it remains to be seen if any of their key players are still missing, with the likes of Sam Ingham, Johnny Holland, Andy Chadwick and Nick Leung having been absent from last week’s defeat at St Mary’s.

Should those players remain absent this weekend and if D&D perform at the top of their game, they may cause a few problems.

It’s been a season of transition for both Gymns and Michael United who both find themselves near the foot of the Division Two table.

The FA Cup, therefore, provides a welcome distraction from their league woes and one of the two is guarenteed a place in the first round after they were drawn against each other this weekend.

Gymns are currently one point and one place above Michael in the league but the latter’s sole win this season came against this weekend’s opponents when they edged past them 2-1 in September and therefore this should be another close contest which could easily go either way.

The final game in the preliminary round is a bit of a mismatch, with Premier League leaders Corinthians making the short journey to face Division Two bottom side Governor’s Athletic.