The occasion is the eagerly awaited return of the Flintshire Freeze to Devonshire Road, for what is likely to be a heated local 'derby' as the sides contest the final match in the English Division One Northern Conference play-offs.

Unfortunately for the Aces they have only pride to play for as a run of four straight defeats means that win, lose or draw on Sunday they will be unable to progress to the semi final stage.

After dropping home and away decisions to both Sunderland and Billingham, The Pack did manage to get back on track two weeks ago with a key victory over the Freeze, and they will therefore be looking to complete thew double over the Welshmen in order to avoid the group wooden spoon.

The rivalry between the two has become so intense this season that it is hard to believe that the first ever meeting between the two clubs was as recently as September last year - and since that time they have met on five occasions with the Aces holding a 4-1 edge in the series.

However, mere statistics do not tell the story of how heated the clashes have become.

In the play-off match at Deeside two weeks ago, The Pack sneaked a 4-3 victory in a game which saw several ugly scenes involving the home side's player manager Mark Stokes, all of which has served ato build the return at Altrincham up to fever pitch.

Aces player manager Ari Mikkola says: "It's been a roller coaster of a season for us with plenty of highs and lows, but on reflection we cannot be too disappointed about where we have finished up, second in the league and hopefully third in the play-offs.

"Our rivealry with Flintshire has certinly caught the imagination of both sets of fans, so we should see a bumper crowd here to send us into the close season with another victory."

The Aces face Flintshire Freeze at Devonshire Road on Sunday, face off at 5.30pm.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.