Today, friendship will be put to one side and rivalry will come to the forefront as Ebbsfleet United take on Dover Athletic in the Conference South play-off final at Stonebridge Road.

The winners will gain promotion into the Conference Premier and the match proves to be a fiery Kent derby.

Both sides reached the play-offs in different circumstances but booked their place in the final with 4-1 aggregate victories.

Ebbsfleet reached the final by beating local rivals Bromley while Dover ensured a second play-off final in a row by beating favourites Sutton United. With Ebbsfleet finishing the season above Dover they have home advantage with an attendance capacity set at 5,000 by Kent police.

There’s no love lost between Ebbsfleet and Dover, mainly due to last summer’s coming and goings between the clubs.

Steve Brown was former Dover manager Nicky Forster’s assistant but joined Ebbsfleet in June 2013 following their relegation and signed several Dover players too, which angered the Whites fans and created animosity between the two clubs.

Dover boss Chris Kinnear has his own connection with Ebbsfleet too having played for the club under their previous name of Gravesend & Northfleet and admits he has a lot of friends at the club but knows he has a job to do for Dover, who missed out on promotion last year losing 3-2 after extra time to Salisbury City.

The two sides have played three times this season, twice in the league and the third as recent at Bank Holiday Monday in the Kent Senior Cup when Ebbsfleet ran out comfortable 4-0 winners, albeit against a much changed and youthful looking Dover side.

In the two matches in the league this season Dover came out on top, winning 2-1 at home before beating Ebbsfleet 2-0 at Stonebridge Road, results that will give the Whites confidence going into this crucial game against the Fleet.

The game is destined to be a cracker and if it is as entertaining as last year’s final, the crowd will be in for a treat.

Dover winger Ricky Modeste has set up the tie perfectly saying: “That’s the dream final. A lot of their players left and a lot are my friends as well but for those 90 minutes or extra time there’ll be no friends in the game.

“We’re going to make sure we’re getting a medal and trophy to go up.”