Clubs ready to put friendship aside in search of glory
PHC Zebras and Southampton Rangers will put friendship aside when they clash in the Friendship Trophy at the National Sports Centre tomorrow afternoon.
The clubs share the same ground, with Rangers playing landlord to their neighbours from just down the road, and while there are close ties between the two teams, those will be forgotten as each looks to end their season on a high.
Victory would give some small measure of credibility to an otherwise miserable season for PHC in which they went from Premier Division champs to chumps, and were only spared from relegation by the changes to the league structure on the Island.
However, Kyle Lightbourne's side are looking for an historic tenth win in the competition, with only Somerset Trojans having won as many times as PHC.
It will be Zebras second attempt at setting a new record, after they were hammered by North Village Rams in last year's final.
Rangers meanwhile have been this season's cup kings, knocking holders Rams out at the semi-final stage of this competition, and also reaching the last four of the FA Cup. But it has been 17 long years since they last claimed this piece of silverware and they will feel their efforts this year deserve a trophy.
PHC though have a powerful motivation on their side, they are chasing history, and need a win to end on a high.
"It has been a rough season for us, and we want to end it with on a high, and winning a trophy would certainly do that," said Chris Furbert.
"We have a good relationship with Rangers, that's our home field and a lot of the guys are good friends, so we always enjoy each meeting before and after the game no matter what happens.
"But playing against Rangers is always fun, I prefer playing against them because they are always up for a challenge and the will to win will also be there. We want to win, but beyond that the atmosphere is great and we will go out looking to win."
There will be two games before the Friendship final with Key West Rangers and North Village Rams kicking things off at mid-day in the last ever final of the Commercial Knock Out Cup. With the Commercial League ceasing to exist next year, Rangers and Rams will look to send the competition out on a high.
In the Shield final at 2pm, St David's will try to defend their trophy against the side that pipped them to the second automatic promotion spot, Somerset Trojans. It will be St David's second game in four days, and comes sandwiched in between the two-legs of their Premier Division play-off against Devonshire Colts.
With the second-leg still to be played, Trojans may fancy their chances against a side who are still chasing a place in the top flight.
n Ticket prices for tomorrow's game are as follows: Grandstand seating is $15.00 for all ages, General Admission seating $ 10.00, Eastern Seats only and Seniors and Children under 12 years of age $5.00, for Eastern Seats.