Sunday -- courtesy of a 4-1 hiding -- Devonshire Cougars will be seeking a measure of respect when they take the pitch tonight for a first- round Friendship Trophy encounter.

Unfortunately for the home side they again face Dandy Town, perpetrators of the aforementioned mauling and a team unbeaten in three outings this season.

Still, new Cougars' coach Josef Gooden was yesterday taking an optimistic approach heading into the contest.

"We definitely have a chance of beating them, Sunday was just one game,'' said Gooden, who has taken over the coaching reins from Mark Jennings after guiding Somerset Trojans during the 1995-96 campaign. "The confidence was still there after Sunday.

"We need to make a few adjustments and capitalise on our chances, which means putting the ball away, while denying their front runners space. We want to take one game at a time, play hard the whole 90 minutes and results will come.'' Gooden will have to make at least one personnel change, as centre-back and co-captain Kenneth Swan has been ruled out of the match after severely twisting an ankle during the second half on Sunday.

And he admitted the loss of Swan would leave the defence more vulnerable, although he noted there to be adequate replacements available.

No doubt salivating at the prospect of going up against a weakened rear guard are Town's strike tandem of Carlos Smith and Darron Simons, both of whom managed scores on Sunday, with Smith striking his first of the year, while Simons added two, taking his overall total to three in as many matches.

Not entirely pleased though was coach Mark Trott, who said there to be plenty of room for improvement.

"I thought Sunday we played in spurts and did not play consistent. We need to be more consistent in our play and I let the team know in no uncertain terms that we need to play better than what we did on Sunday,'' said Trott, who noted displeasure at the showing of his star forwards despite their three output. "On a scale of one to ten our performance was definitely a six. It wasn't good enough and we need to do better.

"I'm looking for more consistent performances, because over the long haul of six or seven months that the soccer season is played and to be in contention for the league or any major trophies we need to show a lot more consistency.

"We can't play for 15 minutes and then turn off and then come back and play for another 15 minutes. We need to play the entire 90 minutes.'' Trott was likewise adamant that his group not get "caught up in results'', noting the recent contest between the pair to be a part of history and having no bearing on tonight's clash.

Game time is 9 p.m.

The opening affair of the double-header at Devonshire Rec. features two of the Second Division's unbeatens in the first round of the Shield competition.

Hotels, who have returned to the local scene following a three year hiatus, face off against Hamilton Parish in what could be an intriguing clash.

Parish come off a 2-1 victory over Prospect, while Hotels celebrated their arrival with a 1-0 triumph over Somerset Eagles.