New cup boys Hood look to make impact
Robin Hood skipper Teddy Terceira will be embracing his club’s first-ever game in the Friendship Trophy with open arms when they tackle Devonshire Cougars tomorrow.Hood travel to Devonshire Rec in the hope of winning their first game in the competition and will need to be at their best to get over the hurdle.Having already been to the Rec this year and suffering a narrow 1-0 defeat to their city rivals, the new boys will look to exact some revenge.For Terceira, however, the game presents an opportunity for the club to make a name for themselves in the competition.“We have to approach it like it’s another game, although it is cup competition and look to put our best foot forward,” said Terceira.“Playing Cougars at the Rec is always a challenge and we haven’t gotten over this hurdle yet so it will be a game that we will look to win and continue on the in the competition.“We are trying to focus on what we need to do and let the result take care of itself, we have a few youngsters coming in that may get a game and they may do the same in terms of the younger guys playing that may help us.“It is a good thing to be playing at this time of the year and it is our first time playing in this cup, so hopefully we can get a positive result and we thing we can get a result but will have to be on our game.”This will be the side’s first time playing in a top flight Christmas competition with the captain admitting he is happy to be playing at this time of the year.They have made deep runs into the FA Cup in recent years, something that suggests that they have the capability to make an impact in the Christmas tournament.And they will have to use their experience in previous cup runs on this occasion.“Christmas games usually bring out big crowds and we will want to show what we can do. Their club is a good place to play and we are excited about the challenge.“We want to stay up in the league but a run in the Friendship and FA Cup will also help us and you have go in with the mindset that you can pull off a few upsets in order to move on, and this is what we are looking to do.”The clash of the day takes place at Southampton Oval when North Village go on the road looking to break their string of losses against PHC.Also on tap is St George’s welcoming eastern rivals St David’s to Wellington Oval, while Somerset Trojans take on Dandy Town as Somerset Cricket Club.Shield preliminary round winners X’Roads travel to Police Field for the second game of a double-header when they face Prospect.The promotion contenders beat fellow promotion hopefuls Wolves on Tuesday night to set up their clash tomorrow.Coach Don Vickers is hopeful that his men will bring the same intensity and passion they showed in their midweek win in the elimination game.“It was a very competitive affair in the first round, the environment didn’t allow either side to settle with the wind and so forth but we hung in for the first half and remained focused on what needed to be done,” said Vickers.“The second half we took our chances and I’m proud of them for their application of the game plan and now we are looking towards our match against Prospect.“We are very optimistic right about our chances right now, we got over a very good side in Wolves and now have to buckle back down for this match, but we are confident that we can get a result.“There is still a lot of work to be done and the guys know I require a lot from them and I expect them to bring the same energy that was showed on Tuesday tomorrow.”Also playing in Shield action tomorrow are Young Men’s Social Club, who will face off against Devonshire Colts in the first game of the double-header at Police Field.Social Club beat Somerset Eagles to earn their spot in the next round on Wednesday night.Paget will travel to play Hamilton Parish at Wellington Oval while Ireland Rangers welcome Flanagan’s Onions to Malabar.All Shield games kick off at 1pm apart from X’Roads versus Prospect which kicks off at 3pm.All Friendship matches are scheduled to start at 3pm.