festive Dudley Eve Trophy when action gets under way under the lights at PHC Stadium tonight (7 p.m. start).

Red Devils and Colts, Blazers and Hornets are all set to appear as yule-tide offerings for the hundreds, maybe thousands, expected for this the BFA's annual `Christmas coffer stuffer'.

No Jack Frost nipping at the nose, or chestnuts roasting on an open fire...instead it is the chime of turnstiles rolling in the `dough' for this, the most lucrative of all local cup competitions.

Both matches promise to be well contested. Indeed, North Village and Devonshire Colts last Thursday battled for nearly 45 minutes to a standstill, before an inconsiderate set of trees decided they would `lend a limb' by short-circuiting area electricity, thus bringing about a halt to the proceedings.

All four teams were yesterday forced to immediately digest the pairings for next year's FA Cup quarter-finals and get on with the business of tonight, where a loss may not get a team eliminated, but will put them on `life support'.

Colts and Village each know the feeling after losing first-round matches in 1992. Village then had the plug pulled and were laid to rest by the former in a heart-wrenching penalty shoot-out.

The young Colts, though, would fall into a Boxing Day coma during the semifinals and where promptly shown the door by PHC, who eventually lost to Somerset in the two-leg final.

Hard work by Lorenzo Symonds and his coaching staff has brought them back, turning a group of seedlings into a veritable forest of evergreens.

Still, three chances at trophies over the past calendar year have been squandered by the exuberant Colts and until they win the `big one' they will continue to be labelled pretenders or bridesmaids, rather than contenders or the preferred mantle...champions.

"We're searching for that first victory,'' said skipper Ellington Weldon, looking ahead to those very prospects of "getting our hands on that first trophy.

"I think the guys are getting hungrier and harder mentally as well.. .we just keep searching.'' Against Village, Weldon indicated a need to shut down the important weapons of the opposition, namely skipper Elliott Jennings and college student Damon Wade.

"Basically, just trying to block out the players that make them play. Each team has players that make them play and we just try to break them down.

"Definitely, Elliott is one. We were kind of successful the other night in doing that, we'll just have to do it again.'' There are not usually teams one might regard as definitive underdogs in an elite competition such as the Dudley Eve Trophy, but when Dandy Town clash with Boulevard there is no doubt the Blazers must be favoured.

Look past the fact that Town as one of only two clubs to have beaten Boulevard -- PHC are the other -- and instead direct attention to the Hornets' last six matches.

These have produced two wins, a draw and most notably three losses, including reversals against Southampton and St. George's, not exactly what one expects from supposed contenders.

Nevertheless, skipper Lloyd Christopher intimated that confidence was high among team-mates and that they looked forward to blunting the Blazer juggernaut, even though they will have a neophyte coach in Devarr Boyles, deputising for a vacationing Mark Trott, at the helm.

"All of us respect Devarr and likewise he respects us,'' said Christopher.

"He's been with us for a long time and all through the pre-season he was more or less with Mark side by side, so it shouldn't really be anything out of the ordinary.

"I feel that we haven't been playing as good as we can play, but as long as each player plays up to their potential, we'll be okay.

"I think (Boulevard) are a very consistent team, but also know that they can be beat.''