be hoping to reward their rookie coach Mark Trott with the Friendship Trophy by beating Vasco in tomorrow's final at National Stadium (3 p.m.).

In an earlier match-up at 1 p.m. Second Division champions Devonshire Cougars stake on runners-up BAA in the Shield final.

Although Dandy Town are firm favourites going into this game, Trott is fully aware that their opponents are not just going to lie dead and hand the trophy to them without a battle. The two teams will also meet in next Sunday's FA Cup final.

"History shows that they have always done well in cup finals like this, they have proven to be a very committed team and we are not going to take them lightly at all,'' said Trott, nearing the end of his first full season as a coach after taking over in the middle of 1992-93.

While recent history will show that Dandy Town have recorded 3-0 and 4-0 victories over Vasco this season, Trott reckons that they will not be swayed by these results.

Town are more aware of Vasco's fine run in the second half of the season when they beat some formidable teams in order to clear relegation; a good run that Trott regards as being significant because it enabled the Portuguese club to be rewarded with a place in the Martonmere Cup competition next season and lift team morale for the two cup finals.

"They are coming off a lot of success and all I can say is that we are hoping to play at the high level that our team is capable of playing in this game on Sunday,'' was how Trott summed up his team's challenge.

Vasco's towering centre-half and skipper Paul Towlson showed similar respect for Dandy Town and predicted that Vasco will have to remain focussed if they are to win.

He, too, was well aware of the 7-0 aggregate defeat they suffered against Dandy Town in their two league fixtures this season and felt that Vasco would have to make some tactical changes in order to turn the tide.

"Obviously, we have got to change our strategy after this, one thing is that their fowards have got to be marked more closely because of the fact that they are such a free-flowing team,'' said Towlson.

"For us to score against them we have to get our front players like Irving Burgess and Ricky Mallory moving quickly, and we need to have them supported by our midfielders. Then, hopefully, we can make a few breaks.'' Looking back at the seven goals Town have scored against them, Towlson said that it was also vital that Vasco's defence did not give away anything during the early stages of the game.

"We simply have to shut their attack down early to stand a chance of winning,'' he remarked.

In full-backs Colin Lloyd and Earl Richardson and central defenders Donovan Livingston and himself, Towlson feels that the defence is quite capable of pulling off this feat in this important clash.

Bermuda goalkeeper Tim Figureido has signed a contract to play semi-pro soccer with Hampton Roads Hurricane in the United States Inter-regional Soccer League this summer.

The Old Dominion University senior, who is majoring in Health and Physical Education, confirmed this week from Norfolk, Virginia, that the contract runs until August.

After that 21-year-old Figureido, who will do his internship in Bermuda starting September, will consider his career options.

"It all depends on how it takes off,'' said Figureido, who was a member of Bermuda's 1990 CONCACAF World Youth Cup in Guatemala. "I'm hoping that by playing with these guys that it will open doors back home with the national team.

"I just signed the contract the other week. The contract runs to the middle of August. I've been training about a month and a half.'' The Hurricane, in their first year in the league, will open their 20-game season on April 17 with an exhibition match against a select team from Portugal.

According to Figureido, the last game of the regular season is at the end of July with the play-offs scheduled for August 1-15. The Hurricane roster contains mostly American-born players but there are also five players from the Caribbean and another from Morocco.

Figureido is at Old Dominion with another top local player, Damon Wade of North Village. He also played with Neil Paynter for two seasons and Dean Minors, Devarr Boyles and Wade for three seasons.

Paul Cann was another local star at Old Dominion but had already finished when Figureido arrived.

The six-foot-one Figureido was ranked fifth among Division I goalkeepers two years ago.

PAUL TOWLSON -- Looking to end Vasco's poor run against Dandy Town in tomorrow's final.