The curtain will go down on the 2009 ASA domestic waterpolo season this evening with the KO competition finals in both Division One and Division Two at Tal-Qroqq.
Eternal rivals Sliema McDonald's and Neptunes Vodafone will again contest the honour for top division clubs, a match-up that reached very high levels this summer and attracted sizeable crowds to the National Pool stands.
Sliema are the dominant force in the local game at present, having just chalked up their 31st national league title to continue on the hot streak of successes which started out last year with the championship and cup double.
That was complimented by another honour in the 2009 pre-season Winter League which they won after a tense decider with Neptunes before this month's league crown.
It seems the Blues are now reaping rich dividends for the few barren years they endured without winning the league between 2005 and 2007 to blood in promising talent into the senior squad.
With the wily Sergio Afric as coach and the right set of foreign players, it will take a brave punter to bet his money against Sliema these days but Neptunes, as ever, will have different ideas.
Today's final poses a perfect scenario for the Reds, last year's beaten finalists, to deny their opponents a 'double double' and shift the party mood from Għar id-Dud to Balluta Bay.
Neptunes came a cropper in a decisive league match against Sliema earlier this month.
On that occasion, the side conceded defeat cheaply but there was enough time at coach Paolo Malara's hands to pep up the team and prepare for this competition.
However, their performance level during patches of Thursday's pulsating semi-final against San Ġiljan suggested differently.
Neptunes required extra-time to oust the Saints after a fourth-session debacle during which they conceded a staggering nine goals and gave away a four-goal advantage.
The odds are stacked against Malara's team today but the Reds did taste victory in one of the derbies this summer and with the right dose of inspiration and determined play they could bounce back to silence their critics.
The Division Two KO final today will be contested by southern clubs Marsascala and Marsaxlokk.
In the semi-finals, Marsaxlokk did well to stop Ta' Xbiex from making a second successive showing in the final but Marsa-scala's feat was even more outstanding.
In midweek, Anthony Farr-ugia's team surprised holders and Division Two champions Exiles in a typical cup tie which eventually went Marsascala's way 8-7 thanks to a Botond Szabo goal, almost a minute from time.
Programme
Today:
5.15 p.m. Division Two KO final Marsaxlokk vs Marsascala.
6.30 p.m. Division One KO final Sliema vs Neptunes.