Somerset Eagles will be hoping to secure a rare hat-trick when they meet Dandy Town Hornets in a make-up match tonight at Goose Gosling Field.

Eagles, second from bottom and three points from safety in their fight for survival, are aiming for a third win over Town this season after 1-0 and 4-3 wins in the league and Friendship Trophy quarter-finals.

However, Town have their own aspirations at the other end of the table where they still have a slim chance of edging out North Village for the title.

More realistic for Town would be a second-place finish, with a win tonight taking them above Robin Hood in the table.

After that they would need Village to lose their final two matches away to Southampton Rangers and defending champions PHC Zebras, while scoring big wins themselves over Boulevard and Rangers.

“We are approaching it as if we can still win the league, it is not settled as of yet,” Cal Blankendal, the assistant Town coach, insisted.

“Last year we finished third without a trophy and this year we’re in third place and can look to finish second with a trophy, so that would be an improvement from the previous season.

“That’s always the goal at the club, to continue to improve. Second is nothing to be ashamed of but nobody remembers who finishes second.

“Dandy Town coming second is not good enough, but that is the reality if that is how the season ends.

“It’s been very competitive this season at the top, no team has won two cups.

“A lot of teams are still fighting against relegation and they expect Dandy Town to come out and put their best foot forward. For any team to beat us three times this season is not a good sign, so we’re looking to get the three points.”

Eagles had the best possible start to the campaign after winning promotion last season, beating Hornets in their opening match as they collected eight points in their first four matches.

Despite beating Town in the Friendship in December, Eagles went three months without a league win, their next victory not coming in the league until they thrashed X-Roads 6-2 last month.

However, 14 points still leaves them in deep relegation trouble, knowing that they will have to win at least two of their final three matches to have any chance of survival.

A win tonight would take them two places up the table ahead of Somerset Trojans and Rangers.