This coming Thursday, Kingston Heath will host the third FFV Community Shield match, featuring for the second year in a row a meeting between the two most successful clubs in the NPL-era − South Melbourne and Bentleigh Greens.

As it stands, the two clubs have each won the traditional season opener once before, with South Melbourne taking out the inaugural 2015 Shield by defeating Melbourne Knights, followed in 2016 by the Greens defeating South Melbourne 3-0 in a fiery contest.

From a marketing perspective, the FFV couldn’t have hoped for a better match-up to usher in the new season, with the two league heavyweights going head to head in a battle for early silverware.

Many will look to this game as an early indication as to how these two great rivals stack up to each other and what shape they’re in for the long season ahead.

“I think it’s very important for us. I don’t know how South will treat it. For us we treat it as another piece of silverware. We consider it a very important game for what it does and for what it stands for, which is the most important thing,” Bentleigh Greens coach John Anastasiadis says.

“It’s a good indication of how well we’ve had our pre-season this year. We’ll treat it as a very important game. I don’t know what South will be doing but we’ll certainly be putting out our strongest 11.”

“There’ll probably be at least four new faces in the starting 11 for this game,” he adds. “We’re excited about that and we’re hoping they gel quickly into the philosophy of the way we play. We’ll wait and see though, once they cross the white line, see how well they adapt.”

South Melbourne FC coach Chris Taylor sees the match from a slightly different perspective. “I suppose the fact that it’s between two of the biggest rivals in the league adds a little spice. But for us it’s just part of our pre-season preparation. While it would be nice to win that bit of silverware, it’s not paramount in our interests. I suppose a little bit of pride is on the line, and that’s always going to be the case, but for me it’s more important to get through the start of the season with a full squad and everyone being fit. We just don’t want any injuries out of the game.”

When asked if South would be fielding its strongest side, Taylor replied: “At this point I’d say no but that could change. A lot depends on players’ availability through fitness. While we’ve had a great pre-season, having injuries and no little niggles are more paramount than the result.”

“New players (including former Green Liam McCormick) will figure at certain periods of time throughout the game. As I said, it’s not one of the bigger games we’ll play this year. It’s more preparation for the rest of the season.”

The two teams share an intense rivalry, with last year’s shield clash producing fireworks and eight yellows and a red card from the referee.

Coach Anastasiadis won’t be surprised if another keenly fought contest eventuates on Thursday evening. “Yeah, I expect, it’s always fiery between us and South Melbourne for some reason. I don’t know why. Nevertheless we’ll just treat it as any other big game for us (regardless of the opponent). If it becomes physical we’ll just have to deal with it.”

The FFV will donate all proceeds from the match to the Reagan Milstein Foundation aimed at giving disadvantaged youngsters moral and financial support to be able to participate in sport and join sports clubs.

The match kicks off at 7.45 pm, Thursday 2 Feb at Kingston Heath, Cheltenham.