1992-93 season. The Somerset Trojans appear to be the team to watch as they have claimed two of the three titles up for grabs so far -- the Martonmere Cup and Dudley Eve Trophy. Devonshire Colts have provided a pleasant surprise while Charity Cup winners PHC have played in spurts with North Village, Dandy Town and Hotels the best of the rest. Boulevard, after a rocky start, appear to be on the right track to recovery but at the bottom Hamilton Parish and St.

George's have much to do to disprove the pundits who feel that they will take the drop. It need be mentioned that The Royal Gazette's mid-term evaluation of players for end-of-season awards are not gospel. World Cup players and others not mentioned have every chance of being recognised on the strength of solid second halves.

SOMERSET A single blemish is all that litters Somerset's record thus far as they have sliced through opponents.

Their only setback has been a 1-0 loss to Devonshire Colts, coming just days after they had lifted the Martonmere Cup for a record seventh time. But this only served to anger the Trojans who proceeded to reel off five consecutive wins, thrusting them to the front of the pack.

Hamilton Parish learned first hand of the Trojans' might when they became nothing more than target practice in successive 9-1 and 5-1 thrashings.

However, the run would not stop there as the west-enders went on a single-minded quest for the Dudley Eve Trophy, the only piece of silverware to elude them over an illustrious history in cup competitions.

Following a few down years coach Larry Hunt has developed a formidable nucleus of players, a glimpse of whose ability was shown last season when they took the Martonmere Cup but faded late.

More consistency has been shown as Somerset again look to live up to the tag of being `Silver City' and gain greater rewards.

Even the absence of longtime central defender Dennis Brown has failed to slow the Trojan juggernaut. New signee Paul Place has hooked up well in the middle alongside Trevor Dickinson making for the league's second best defence, allowing a mere seven goals.

If the momentum garnered can be maintained there is no reason why Somerset cannot challenge for all available trophies.

Leading Scorers: Rodney Bascome, Dwight Basden (both 8), Jerry Webb (6) MVP candidates: Winslow Williams, Jerry Webb, Trevor Dickinson Young Player of the Year candidates: None DEVONSHIRE COLTS Devonshire Colts are in the running for their first league title in 20 years, but whether they can maintain the pace could depend largely on their injury situation.

Two of their most promising youngsters, full-back Keenan Burchall and winger Quincey Aberdeen, have been missing of late because of injuries with Ellington Weldon only returning during the Dudley Eve Trophy when they failed to reach the final.

Even player/coach Lorenzo Symonds has not been able to lend his experience in a badly-weakened defence because of injury. Chris Wright should soon be back in the heart of the defence and if they can start the second half they same way they did the first then Colts might just chase that elusive title right through to April.

Captain Craig Smith has been the danger man in the Colts attack though he will be anxious to break a barren scoring spell, which stretches back to November 22. Youngster Keishon Smith has been inconsistent lately and has lost his starting position while Yul Wade, Jay Bean and Harrison Trott are three of the more experienced players in the team.

Leading scorers: Ellington Weldon (5), Craig Smith (4).

MVP candidates: Craig Smith Young Player of the Year candidates: Keenan Burchall, Keishon Smith PHC PHC have been denied silverware by Somerset for the second time this season when they lost to the Trojans in the Dudley Eve Trophy final yesterday to go with their loss in the Martonmere Cup final.

That should give them even more determination now to hang onto their league crown, though their injury problems could be a deciding factor.

Considering the strength of their team for the holiday tournament, PHC did well to qualify and then reach their seventh final. They were forced to push youngsters into key roles because of injury or unavailability to senior players like Mike Dill, Carlyle Crockwell, Sammy Swan, Kyle Lightbourne, Winston Trott, Jr., Shawn Simmons, Kevin Dill, and Blake and Nelson Simons.

They remained in the top three during the first half of the season, and the fact that they have already reached two finals suggests they could still get amongst the silverware before the end of the season, including making another run for a league title.

Youngster Kenny Mills has grabbed his chance in the absence of Swan and Lightbourne and finished 1992 as the top scorer with 10 goals. Swan is back to lead the attack along with Winston Trott who has been dogged with injuries again while Mills is in midfield alongside Frank Ming and another promising youngster, Ottis Steede.

Dano Outerbridge is another youngster showing tremendous promise at right-back, and lately in the middle of the defence alongside Derrick Douglas in the absence of Mike Dill and could be a player to watch for the future.

Leading scorers: Kenny Mills (10), Ottis Steede, Michael Trott (both 4).

MVP candidates: Kenny Mills.

Young Player of the Year candidates: Dano Outerbridge, Ottis Steede.

NORTH VILLAGE One of the more active clubs in the off-season transfer North Village like Dandy Town picked up a number of quality players and early indications were that they would be able to mount a formidable challenge.

But like Town they were decimated by the loss of their core to the World Cup and forced into a battle for survival for much of the first half.

Depth was a definite problem early on as shown by an embarassing 2-1 home loss to First Division whipping boys Hamilton Parish.

Only a late resurgence -- including a surprise 2-0 victory over PHC -- coinciding with the reappearance of Elliot Jennings, Philip Clarke, Kevin Grant and Shawn Smith, enabled Village to become the last side to qualify for the Dudley Eve Trophy competition, however they were promptly eliminated after only two matches.

The major problem for coach Wendell (Joe) Trott and his troops has been their inability to score goals even with the addition of Clarke, who was expected to add more teeth to the attack. They have just 10 from nine league matches, only St. Georges (four) and Parish (seven) have scored less.

Goals win games, the adage goes, and if this need is not addressed look for the second half to be a mirror image of the first -- close but no cigar.

Leading scorers: Clinton Caisey, Sean Dill (both 3) MVP candidates: Michael Hansey Young Player of the Year candidates: Stephen Coddington, Kevin Jennings DANDY TOWN Dandy Town's season of great expectation virtually evaporated with the loss of four key members to Bermuda's World Cup squad.

Add to that injuries and Town have had to suffer through a tortuous first half. They were bundled out of the Martonmere Cup at the semifinal stage and followed this with a line of poor results in the league, two losses and a draw leaving them fourth from the bottom on four points.

A mini-resurgence took place over the last month as they struggled in vain for a Dudley Eve Trophy place. They blasted St. George's, edged past St. David's, and managed draws against North Village and Devonshire Colts only to lose out to Village on goal difference.

Coach Robert Calderon is hopeful that the return of Paul Cann, Voorhees Astwood, Lloyd Christopher and Neil Paynter will enable his side to perform more consistently in the second half and be in contention for some silverware.

Still it seems a distant memory to the days when Town exploded onto the scene and were being touted as the team for the nineties. That initial `high' has subsided and they now have to battle just for respectability.

Look for Town to secure a Martonmere Cup place but little else.

Leading scorers: Lionel Cann, Walter Musson, Stevie Wade (all with 3) MVP candidates: Walter Musson Young Player of the Year candidates: Lionel Cann , HOTELS Hotels find themselves comfortably placed in sixth position after nine games having combined some fine results with some not-so-memorable performances -- such as a 4-0 drubbing by Devonshire Colts and a pair of 3-0 defeats by Somerset and PHC.

Criticised as a group of aging veterans, Hotels enjoyed the First Division league leadership for a brief spell before stumbling. The loss of striker Ricky Hill through injury no doubt contributed to the downfall but they have shown the ability to compete on any given day.

Coolridge Bell continues to defy the wrath of Father Time and has provided a spark in the attack even if it is only an occasional flicker. He and Hill represent Hotels' best chances of scoring but it is in defence where the major worries lie. They have conceded the second most number of goals -- 16 -- with only bottom club Hamilton Parish having allowed more.

Team depth is a definite concern with not many options for rookie coach Clevie Wade to choose from and injuries to key players could cause them to go south in a hurry.

At current pace they figure to hang around and challenge for a Martonmere Cup berth for next season and cannot be counted out of any of the other cup competitions that remain. In the end a usual mid-table placing will probably be their reward for another "grind-it-out'' season.

Leading Scorers: Ricky Hill (5), Coolridge Bell (4) MVP candidates: Ricky Hill Young Player of the Year candidates: None BOULEVARD Good wins in their last two outings against bottom team Hamilton Parish and joint leaders Devonshire Colts failed to lift Boulevard into the top four for a Dudley Eve Trophy spot, but at least they were able to relax over the holidays knowing that they may have turned a very important corner.

The first two months of the season were a disappointment by Boulevard's standards, though the recent 4-1 win over Hamilton Parish, followed by the 3-2 win over Devonshire Colts suggests the Blazers may be finally on their way back.

And with their World Cup players, Leroy Stevens, Albert Smith and Neil Robinson, now back there is reason for optimism in the Boulevard camp. Kenny Hill is back out with Boulevard and has scored three goals in the last two wins and is already the team's top scorer. Carlos Pearman, too, has also shown lately that he is a capable match winner.

Boulevard's defensive record, which is one of the worst in the division, will have to improve if they are to make a serious bid for the cup honours in the second half of the season. Offensively they have players like Dwight Warren, Robinson, Hill, Amon Brown, Pearman and Vernon Symonds to lead them in the search for goals.

Leading scorers: Kenny Hill (3), Amon Brown, Carlos Pearman, Wayne Richardson, Dwight Warren (all 2).

MVP candidates: None Young Player of the Year candidates: None ST. DAVID'S The Islanders are determined not to be pushovers for the First Division big boys in their first season in the top flight, and results in the first half would suggest they have accomplished that.

Their 3-2 win over PHC was one of the biggest shocks of the season so far, and they followed that up with a 3-0 thrashing of Hamilton Parish. Somerset, the First Division leaders, could only beat them 1-0 at home while the Islanders were edged out by the odd goal in five by Dandy Town.

The aim of St. David's in the second half of the season will be to keep a distance between themselves and the bottom teams St. George's and Hamilton Parish.

Coach Garrett (Punchy) Dill has come out of retirement to add his vast experience to a St. David's team who have few players that have played at this level before. Joint top scorers Kanhai Fray and Jerome Laws, are handling themselves well in the First Division as are midfielder Del Hollis, Patrick White and defenders Cal Richardson and Albert Steede.

Steede, Hollis and goalkeeper Dale Fox are being asked to give up soccer to concentrate on preparing for Bermuda's next ICC commitment in 1994, and if they decide to do so it would leave the Islanders without three key players for much of the second half of the season.

Leading scorers: Kanhai Fray, Jerome Laws (both 3), Del Hollis (2) MVP candidates: Jerry Laws Young Player of the Year candidates: None ST. GEORGE'S St. George's have done something no other team in the First Division has done -- amass more points than goals! But unless they find the back of the net more consistently to take some pressure off their defence, it is going to be a long hard battle to avoid a quick return to the Second Division.

The east-enders came out pointless from their well-publicised abandoned match with Hamilton Parish -- after leading 2-1 -- and now they will be looking over their shoulders at the Peppers who have joined them on four points.

At one time St. George's had the best defence in the First Division, before Dandy Town changed all that with a five-goal thrashing at St. John's field.

The highlight of their season has been the 1-0 win over Devonshire Colts while their other points came from scoreless draws against North Village and St.

David's.

There is a possibility they could have Clay Smith back for the remainder of the season, though the same request to commit to cricket will also be made to the college student.

St. George's have some promising youngsters coming through in Greg Foggo, Philip Bailey, Marlon Outerbridge and goalkeeper Troy Hall while captain Earl Basden has been solid at the heart of their defence and Jan Cieters has been a workhorse in midfield.

However, it is goals that will determine their fate and the sooner they get Sinclair M. Smith and Sinclair E. Smith back and knocking in the goals the better their chances of survival will look.

Leading scorers: Greg Foggo, Philip Bailey (both one).

MVP candidates: None Young Player of the Year candidates: None HAMILTON PARISH An indication of the season Hamilton Parish are having comes with the serious talk of relegation when only half of the season has gone by.

Johnny Nusum's men are anchored at the bottom of the tables with only four points from nine matches, two of those coming as an early Christmas present after they were awarded the win from their abandoned match against St.

George's -- a game they were losing at the time.

The demise of Parish can be traced back to last year. Ideally situated in fourth place at the midway point the bottom would soon fall out as they tumbled all the way to eighth by the end of the season with six losses in their final nine league matches.

That trend has carried over to the present and a 9-1 drubbing at the hands of Somerset in the first round of the Friendship Trophy epitomised the way things have gone for Parish this time around. Their porous defence has conceded 26 goals and opposing strikers are sure to be circling their calendars in anticipation of having a go at them.

Bleak may overstate the outlook for the club's chances of remaining a part of the top flight as even the return of Corey Hill for two matches prior to the Christmas break failed to make a favourable impact. Diego Maradona's goal that beat England in the quarter-finals of the 1986 World Cup was described as the "Hand of God'' and it looks as if Parish will require similar divine intervention if they are to avoid the drop.

Leading Scorers: Irving Burgess, Walton Burgess, Sinclair Gibbons (all with 2) MVP candidates: None Young Player of the Year candidates: None SECOND DIVISION Unless top two teams Vasco and Southampton Rangers are beaten by teams below them in the second half of the season, they will book the two promotion spots with time to spare.

Vasco's only loss was to Rangers while Rangers' suffered their only defeat at the hands of then bottom team Paget. Otherwise the two teams have had few interruptions in their bids for a return to the First Division.

Other teams have come close to upsetting them but if the likes of Wolves, Prospect, Social Club and Devonshire Cougars are to make a strong challenge for promotion then they will have to start taking points off the leaders.

Presently there is a four-point gap between Rangers and third-placed Wolves, with Prospect a further two points back. Social Club, who lost two of their last three matches to Vasco and Rangers, are seven points behind Rangers.

The only thing Social Club can boast is having the division's top scorer in Rembert Hill with 12 goals. But the fact that Vasco and Rangers do not have the top scorer despite being the highest scoring teams in the division -- 28 and 25 respectively -- says something for their depth with more than one player leading their respective attacks.

Ricky Mallory is Vasco's leading scorer with nine goals, followed by Larance Durham on seven and defender Paul Towlson on five. Ascento Russell is the Rangers top scorer with seven goals, followed by Lamar Seymour and Corey Simmons on four each.

Mallory, Durham and Towlson are three of Vasco's many summer signings as they started the season as firm promotion favourites and have not disappointed, though Rangers have sometimes disappointed in their performances if not the results.

Leading scorers: Rembert Hill (12), Marlon Lindsay (10), Terrence Christopher, Ricky Mallory (both 9), Troy Darrell, Dion Minors (both 8).

MVP candidates: None Young Player of Year candidates: None.

STANDINGS COCA-COLA FIRST DIVISION Somerset617 921412 PHC538 941010 Dandy Town3212 901310 Boulevard3315 92126 St. George's1611 9074 COLONIAL INSURANCE SECOND DIVISION Vasco8110 912515 Wolves5312 93159 Social Club3319 80148 Somerset Eagles3525 8185 Paget2626 80112.

TWO OUT OF TWO -- Somerset yesterday won the Dudley Eve Trophy for the first time to go with the Martonmere Cup. From left, Shannon Morrissey, captain Brain Simons and Dennis Brown are among the joyous Trojans.

KENNY MILLS -- Has sharpened his skills around goal for PHC Zebras.