Premier Division champions Devonshire Cougars have been dealt a double whammy with striker Raymond Beach out "indefinitely" through injury and the influential Domico Coddington abroad for at least a month through "personal" commitments.

Both players were noticeable absentees during Cougars' 1-0 FA Cup loss to Dandy Town last weekend at St. John's Field.

Beach has been labouring with a suspected hamstring injury in recent weeks while Coddington only returned to action last month after recovering from a chipped bone in his right ankle.

Cougars started the season off with a bang, lifting a first Charity Cup with a convincing win over FA champions Devonshire Colts, but now find themselves searching for answers following a gut-wrenching Martonmere Cup loss to PHC Zebras and last weekend's humiliation against Hornets on the road.

And with Beach having been ruled out indefinitely and Coddington tending to personal business abroad, the Big Cats will have to quickly dust themselves off and put a halt to their free fall in the absence of two of their key members who have now joined the injured Omar Butterfield on the sidelines.

"We just have to keep working hard. Every team has their challenges to face and so we just have to keep striving until things eventually go our way," an anonymous club source told The Royal Gazette. "Beach is out indefinitely through injury while Domico indicated he was going away for personal reasons for a month."

Coddington's travel plans might have come at the worst possible time for the fluttering Big Cats. But team management remain optimistic they can turn their fortunes around without one of their star players who formerly suited up for the Oakville Blue Devils in the Canadian Professional League and has undergone trials at Italian Serie C side AS Acireale and the United Soccer League's (USL) Atlanta Silverbacks in the past.

"Domico has put the team first in the past. But this time he has chosen to do something for himself and if he wants to go away then that's his choice," the club source added. "You can't knock him for that and we are not holding anything against him."

Coddington sat out most of the second-half of the domestic campaign last season with Cougars after limping off hurt against Boulevard at the Den with a foot injury - an injury the versatile player aggravated training for Bermuda Hogges just days before his 23rd birthday last May.

• Kent Henry was elected new president during Devonshire Recreation Club's AGM last Monday.

Henry pipped rival Craig Clarke in a close race for former president Elsworth Christopher's vacated position. Christopher, who has given the club many years service, decided against seeking re-election. Clarke also came up short in his bid for the vice-president's position that was eventually won by Vance Brown by a convincing margin.

Dwight Furbert (secretary) and Dashon Martin (treasurer) were both returned to their respective positions while Nadine Browne Evans - daughter of the late Dame Lois Browne Evans - was voted in as assistant secretary.

• A Cyril (Dago) Steede-led Over-40 Bermuda XI will lock horns with the visiting Jamaican Ambassadors of America tonight at the Den (8 p.m.).

The Ambassadors were due to open their three-match tour of Bermuda last night with a match against Commercial side North Village Rams at BAA Field.

The tourists face Somerset Exrtros tomorrow at Somerset Cricket Club (3 p.m.).

Bermuda Over 40 XI: Cyril Steede, Lorenzo Symonds, Eugene (Hammer) Simmons, Brian (Bulla) Anderson, David (Berker) Burchall, Wayne (Bigga) Richardson, Johnny Robinson, Cal Raynor, Dale Russell, Wendell (Joe) Trott, Harrison Trott, Lloyd Telford, Andrew Bascome, Herbie Bascome, Cecil Hendrickson, Kenny Burt, Wayne Butterfield, Derek Scott.