For Buckie Thistle manager Graeme Stewart and Brechin City boss Andy Kirk winning the Breedon Highland League would be the culmination of years of work.
The Jags and the Hedgemen clash at Victoria Park this afternoon with the title at stake, a win or a draw will be enough for the home side, while the visitors need all three points if they are to be champions.
Stewart guided Buckie to the title in 2017 but soon had to embark on a major overhaul of his squad.
Gradually he has built a new team which has threatened to win silverware, losing in three cup finals in recent times, and finishing second behind Fraserburgh in the league last season.
Stewart said: “The team’s there now. We had a big rebuild after we won the league the last time due to a lot of injuries and players leaving.
“We had seven or eight players needing operations at the same time which is a pretty rare occurrence.
“We had to rebuild and people didn’t understand why we went from first to seventh or eighth, but we had to rebuild and it isn’t a quick process.
“We’ve managed to attract top quality players and we’ve been very close. We’re getting the club back towards where it should be.
“We’re challenging for trophies and now the next step is to win something and if could do that hopefully it has a domino effect.
“It’s the biggest game and the hardest game of the season. Brechin are the biggest club in the Highland League, not long ago they were playing in the Championship.”
Hedgemen on the up after slide
Kirk took charge at Brechin two years ago after three relegations in four seasons had seen the Angus side plummet from the Championship to the Highland League.
After finishing third last term City have progressed again this season.
He added: “It’s our second year in the Highland League and we’ve built a squad from pretty much nothing at the start of last season.
“We learned a lot last season and this season I think we’ve progressed as a team because of those experiences.
“We want to be up there challenging, we didn’t quite get there last season, but we’ve got there this season.
“We’ve got a chance if we can win this game to be successful, we won’t need to get the players up for it because it’s a big moment in their careers.
“We’ve worked all season to try to get ourselves in a position to be successful.
“You need that wee bit of luck and you need to play well. It’s all there for us if we can put in a good performance, but we’re up against a top team in Buckie.”