Damon Ming, the Dandy Town Hornets midfielder, is confident of his team hitting the ground running tonight in their Dudley Eve Trophy opener against Devonshire Cougars in a repeat of last season’s final.

Hornets, who claimed three trophies last season — the Premier Division, FA Cup and Dudley Eve Trophy — made an impressive start to the season, thrashing Somerset Trojans 4-0 in the Charity Cup at Goose Gosling Field last Sunday.

While Ming admits that it would be foolhardy to read too much into that encouraging display, he suspects that Hornets could have the slight edge over Cougars, who kicked off their Dudley Eve Trophy campaign by rescuing a 2-2 draw against Flanagan’s Onions on Monday.

“We’re just focused on carrying on from where we left off last season and haven’t really taken a break all summer, starting our pre-season just before Cup Match,” said Ming, who was recently voted as last season’s Premier Division MVP.

“Our first outing was pretty good and we can take a lot of positives, although there’s always room for improvement.”

Cougars appeared slightly rusty against Onions in their first game under new coach Andrew Bascome, who has returned to Devonshire Recreation Club for a second spell, having led Cougars to maiden Premier Division and Friendship Trophy titles in 2004-05.

Ming, however, believes that Cougars are a perennial threat and that Bascome will soon have their talented bunch of players singing from the same hymn sheet.

“You can look at Cougars in two different ways,” Ming said. “Sure, they have a new coach in Andrew but many of their players are already familiar with his style of play.

“I don’t think it will take them too long to get used to any new system that Andrew is trying to implement.

“We’re not looking too deeply into that because anything can happen on any given day.

“We’re just focusing on what we need to do against Cougars. With Cougars and Onions drawing their first game, we know that a win will be enough to put us into the next phase of the competition.”

At 35, Ming is one of Bermuda football’s elder statesmen, along with Kwame Steede, of Devonshire Cougars, who was used as an experimental centre half to good effect by Bascome against Onions at Bernard Park.

Ming, who could hang up his boots at the end of the season, believes that it is important for some of the Island’s experienced players, such as Steede and himself, to prolong their careers and help to develop the talismen of tomorrow.

“We’re both among the oldest players in the league and each year we get that much wiser,” Ming said.

“This might be my last season and it’s important to try and bring the younger players through. At Dandy Town, we try and bring a few young players through each year — and it’s looking pretty good for the team.”

In tonight’s opening game at Devonshire Rec, North Village, who defeated Hamilton Parish 3-2 at Bernard Park on Monday, take on Somerset Trojans at 7pm.

Hornets face Cougars, whom they beat 5-4 on penalties in last season’s final, at 9pm.