The Alice in wonderland after intriguing Cup draw

The Alice Springs draw for preliminary games in Westfield FFA Cup qualifiers was held on Saturday with two bitter Alice Springs rivals facing off in a Red Centre cracker.

Darwin hold draw for Westfield FFA Cup qualifiers

In a headline writer's dream, Celtic FC will take on Buckleys and will be out for revenge after their championship tilt last season was ended by Buckleys.

“The [Westfield FFA Cup] tournament had a different feeling because [Alice Springs] teams are playing for a spot against a Darwin club,” Celtic captain Steve Jones said.

“We've always wanted a chance to revive the Alice-Darwin rivalry.”

In the other match up, last season’s champions Gillen Scorpions will start favourites against Vikings even though they lost to them in a recent pre-season friendly.

“We're all incredibly excited, we've been training for the past six weeks, a whole month earlier than last season,” Scorpions captain Daniel McCormick said.

“The kids are training harder because we've never had an opportunity like this before.”

Both of these matches will be held in May at Ross Park in Alice Springs, with Celtic taking on Buckleys on the 19th, with Gillen and the Vikings playing the following night.

Both matches will kick off at 7pm.

With Northern Territory being given a direct slot into the round of 32 this year, qualifiers in Darwin and Alice Springs will take on great significance in coming months.

The respective winners from Darwin and Alice Springs will play each other in a one-off clash in June. 

For the winner, the coveted single Territory spot in the Westfield FFA Cup Round of 32, which starts in late July.

After Darwin held their draw last week, it was Alice Springs’ turn over the weekend with some interesting match-ups.