Holders Devonshire Cougars will begin their belated Dudley Eve Trophy title defence against Hamilton Parish during a double header at Goose Gosling Field on Tuesday.

Cougars edged Dandy Town 2-1 in the final during the 2020-21 campaign when the competition was last held.

However, they were unable to defend their title last season after the competition was cancelled owing to a number of factors associated with the Covid-19 pandemic.

Cougars will do battle with Parish at 9pm and have momentum after thrashing Town 4-0 in the Charity Cup last week and they will be keen to pick up where they left off, but they have their work cut out as Parish’s confidence is also high after they thumped Robin Hood 3-0 in their group opener last week.

There is also added incentive for group C leaders Parish as victory over Cougars in their final group match will clinch their place in the quarter-final.

Dandy Town will also make their first appearance in this season’s Dudley Eve Trophy competition when they face St George’s Colts in their opening group A match starting at 7pm.

Group A remains wide open with North Village and St George’s level on points with identical goal differences after playing to a 2-2 stalemate in their opening group match last week.

PHC Zebras have already clinched group B and with their spot in the last eight with a match to spare after a hard fought 3-1 victory over Boulevard at Goose Gosling Field on Sunday night.

Somerset sit in second with Boulevard ahead of bottom team X-Roads on goal difference.

The top two teams from the three groups will advance to the quarter-final, with the remaining four teams facing off in a play-off to determine the final two spots in the last eight.

The Bermuda Football Association revised the competition last year to include all of the teams in the Premier Division.

The revision was prompted by the abandonment of the 2020-21 season which resulted in no team qualifying for the competition traditionally featuring the top six teams in the top flight from the previous campaign.

The revised format was due to be launched last season before ultimately being cancelled.

The competition, which began as the Martonmere Cup in 1972, was renamed the Dudley Eve Trophy in 2009-10 after that competition, held over the Christmas holidays, ceased.