It was not to long ago that Devonshire Colts and the term bridesmaid went hand in hand.

Always at the ball, but never able to emerge with much more than a tattered slipper.

Those days now appear as ancient history, and it is with high expectations of players and fans alike that the club enter the 2000-01 campaign.

Once dubbed the `Halloween Kids' for their orange and black jersey colour scheme, the past two years have seen them add substance to style, creating havoc among opponents based on tenacious play rather than costumed appearance.

Want proof? Just take a peak in the trophy cabinet, where can be found a veritable cache of silverware, counting the Dudley Eve and Friendship Trophies, along with FA Cup runners-up medals. And they only recently relinquished the Charity Cup which they also won in 1999.

Yet, past championships only breed higher expectations and Colts' captain Shannon Burgess is well aware of the challenges that await this time around.

"It's definitely going to be a challenge to try and match last season,'' said Burgess, who also skippered Bermuda through the ill-fated World Cup campaign.

"After four years of winning trophies obviously the pressure's on to win at more this year.

"It's going to be very competitive with eight teams in the (Premier) Division. It's going to make the league campaign much more difficult and then you have other teams like North Village who now have had a taste of silverware that are going to be hungry for more.

"PHC will probably want to prove the critics wrong. People are saying that it was a fluke they won the league, something I can't see, because they played pretty consistently all season.'' Colts bade farewell to goalkeeper Troy Hall, who Burgess said will be a major loss, however several additions have been made to bolster the squad, with the likes of former members Jermaine Belboda, Keenan Burchall, Vic Ball, Dean Smith and Cymande Davis all returning following periods of absence.

The key will be getting the newly acquired talent to gel with the standing nucleus under the system being established by new head coach Ray Jones, who takes over from David Furbert.

"On any given day we can compete with the best teams, I think we've proven that when it comes down,'' added Burgess. "Our problem has been consistency, and in order to win the league or consistently win trophies you have to play at a level game.

"I think at times we've shown ourselves to be mature enough to gel and play as a team, while other times we've been shown to be a young team which forgets what it needs to do to win.'' Burgess admitted that goalscoring has been a problem.

And even with Aljame Zuill finishing as the top goalscorer in the top flight, the matter of converting opportunities remained an Achilles heel.

FAST FACTS Head coach: Ray Jones Home field: White Hill Field Team colours: Orange/White/Black Key arrivals: Jermaine Belboda, Keenan Burchall, Cymande Davis, Hopde Burrows, Dennis Zuill, Dyke Lawrence, Jahma Charles Key departures: Troy Hall, Jerome Laws, Derek Wright Predicted finish: Fourth 1999-2000 finish: Fourth 1999-2000 honours: Charity Cup winners; Dudley Eve Trophy winners; Friendship Trophy winners; FA Cup runners-up Marvin Belboda: aiming to increase goal output.