THE winners and beaten finalists of three cup competitions from last season will all go into the respective draws today when the Bermuda Football Association decides the next round of matches in the Commercial KO Cup, Shield and Friendship competitions.

All three finals will take place on April 5 at the National Sports Centre and defending champions Lobster Pot (Commercial KO), St. David's (Shield) and North Village (Friendship Trophy) will all be anxiously awaiting today's lunchtime draw.

The Commercial KO draw will be for the quarter-finals, while the Shield and Friendship competitions are down to the semi-final stage. Also still in the Commercial KO Cup are Tuff Dogs, who lost to Lobster Pot in last year's final, as well as BAA Wanderers, Dandy Town Roots, Robin Hood, Key West Raiders, MR Onions and North Village Rams.

North Village's Premier Division side also hoping to reach their second final of the season when they put their Friendship title on the line. It has been an up-and-down season for the defending champions, who hammered PHC Zebras 7-3 in last year's final. They lost to Devonshire Cougars in November's Martonmere Cup final and then failed to qualify for the recent Dudley Eve tournament which they won last year.

However, defending the Friendship is clearly a priority as was shown with their 3-1 win over Dandy Town in the last round last Sunday as new coach Shaun Goater got off to a winning start. Village will meet either the Zebras, Boulevard or Southampton Rangers in the semi-finals which are scheduled for next month.

Rangers booked their spot with a deserved 2-0 win over Devonshire Colts while Boulevard edged past Hamilton Parish 1-0 and PHC needed an injury time goal from Lloyd Holder to beat Devonshire Cougars 1-0.

The same four First Division teams that battled for the Dudley Eve title over Christmas will also contest the Shield title which was won last year by St. David's. The Islanders are still in the competition after last weekend's 5-1 thumping of Ireland Rangers and they will be joined by the three other main promotion contenders, St. George's, Somerset Trojans and Somerset Eagles in what could be two east versus west clashes in the semi-finals.

St. David's followed up their win over Ireland Rangers with a shocking 1-0 loss to X-roads on Tuesday night, a loss which cost them top spot in the First Division after St. George's Colts also beat BAA 1-0 that same night to regain first place. They lead the division by two points and with a game in hand.

The Dudley Eve First Division champions have not lost to another First Division team since the Trojans beat them back in October in their first league match. Those two teams will meet again on Sunday for the fourth time this season and the Trojans will be hoping to level the 'series' at 2-2 when they make the long trip to Wellington Oval.

Victory will be vital for both teams as the promotion race is now starting to take shape with four main contenders and two others, Ireland Rangers and Prospect, hoping to make a second half push. Twelve points separate the top six teams in the division, with the Trojans nine points out of first place and with a game in hand on St. George's and two on St. David's. Somerset's match on Wednesday night with neighbours Somerset Eagles was postponed because of the weather. The Paget-Prospect match was also called off.

Other key matches on Sunday will see St. David's and Ireland Rangers meeting for the second straight weekend, with the visitors knowing that another loss could virtually end their promotion aspirations.

Third-placed Somerset Eagles, six points behind St. George's and with two games in hand, are still very much in the reckoning and should be too good for Paget at White Hill field. In the other two matches X-Roads will look to build on Tuesday's shock win over St. David's by taking maximum points from Social Club at Garrison Field, while last-placed BAA entertain Wolves at BAA Field in a bottom-of-the-table clash.

Devonshire Cougars, who failed in the Dudley Eve and were eliminated from the Friendship last weekend, will be hoping a return to league action brings a change of fortunes as they seek to hold onto top spot in the Premier Division.

Cougars, who lead Boulevard by a single point and are two points ahead of Dandy Town, welcome the Hornets to Devonshire Rec. for Sunday's top match. Any one of three teams could be leading the division on Sunday evening as Boulevard have their sights on reclaiming first place which they lost to Cougars just before Christmas.

However, three points won't be easy as their opponents at Southampton Oval, champions PHC, haven't given up yet on retaining their title. The Zebras trail the leaders by six points, but even more worrying must be the two point gap that exists between them and second-from-bottom Southampton Rangers who are making a gallant effort to avoid the drop.

Rangers are away to North Village at Bernard Park, with the losers set to occupy the dreaded second relegation spot. Hamilton Parish, a point ahead of Village and level with PHC in fifth place, will be looking to climb even further from the drop zone when they take on bottom team Devonshire Colts at Wellington Oval. Certainly it is a match Parish know they need to win.

Colts are five points adrift and seem destined for the drop, but they did have plenty of fight in them against Rangers last weekend and will need to produce a similar effort if they are to pull off the great escape.

North Village Lady Rams and Lady Cougars will meet at Bernard Park in a top-of-the-table clash that will have a strong bearing on the league title. Cougars presently lead Lady Rams by four points.

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Schedule

First Division: St. David's v Ireland Rangers (St. David's 12.30); Som. Eagles v Paget (White Hill 3.00); BAA v Wolves (BAA Field 3.00); X-Roads v YMSC (Garrison Field); St. George's v Somerset Trojans (Wellington Oval 12.30).

Premier Division: PHC v Boulevard (Southampton Oval); Dev. Cougars v Dandy Town (Devonshire Rec.); Ham. Parish v Dev. Colts (Wellington Oval); North Village v Southampton Rangers (Bernard Park). All games start at 3.00.

Women's Division: Dandy Stars v Prospect (St. John's Field 3.00); North Village Lady Rams v Lady Cougars (Bernard Park 12.30).