Has the vaunted strike force been fleeced of its ammunition? Is a return trip to the Second Division on the cards? Not according to coach Alfred Eve, who feels it is far too early to cast the death knell on his young PHC squad, who have clearly struggled during the early going this season.

"I don't think there's anything that has really gone wrong,'' said Eve, a late replacement for Jack Castle. "With young players it always takes a bit of time for them to develop consistency and a better understanding of the game and their responsibilities.

"Things will eventually fall into place ... I'm not overly concerned at this point in time.'' Giving some cause for worry, however -- at least among club supporters -- is the fact that PHC are presently fourth from the bottom of the Coca-Cola First Division, with just two points from three matches, those coming as a result of a 2-0 win over fellow strugglers St. George's in week two.

In addition they were also bundled out of the Martonmere Cup in the round-robin stage and this weekend get little reprieve in facing FA Cup champions Boulevard.

No doubt etched in the back of the minds of the older crowd are memories of 1979-80 when the Zebras were sent tumbling into the lower division for the first time in club history. That also came during a time of rebuilding not much dissimilar from the present.

Still, Eve remained confident in the ability of his men and said that he had heard no negative rumblings from fans.

"Results are one thing and most coaches look solely at them as a measure of success,'' he noted. "We at PHC look for improvement and realise that it is a learning process.

"Obviously, we want to get the results as well, the longer you stay close to the bottom the more effect it can have where players start to panic and lose confidence.

"Fans, they always expect their team to do well, but we're basically happy with the way the team has performed so far. PHC are notoriously slow starters ... we'll be there when the roll is called!'' Nevertheless, one cannot hide the fact that the Zebras have been on a downward spiral since winning the league and FA Cup double in 1992.

It would appear that success robbed them of much of their talent.

Gone was Meshach Wade to English Third Division side Hereford. Then came the World Cup, which further depleted them of several star players.

But the ultimate hurt came when leading scorer Kyle Lightbourne decided to seek greener pastures overseas, first with Scarborough and currently at Walsall.

It was left for a bevy of untried youngsters to fill the gaps and, while showing promise, they were unable to maintain the previous levels of performance and the Charity Cup became the only reward in 1993.

The trend has spilled over to this season, but bright sparks are on the horizon as youngsters such as Ottis Steede, Raynell Lightbourne, Blenn Bean and Tokia Russell learn from veterans Sammy Swan, Ty Williams and Kevin and Mike Dill, remnants of the glory years.

Also impending are the return of Sheridan Ming and last year's top marksman -- for PHC -- Kenny Mills. The latter has been a mystery thus far, but is believed to have resumed training although there is no prognosis for his return.

Other than the aforementioned match squaring PHC and Boulevard at PHC on Saturday night (9 p.m.) the most intriguing Sunday game involves the two unbeatens, Vasco travelling to St. John's for a tussle with league leaders Dandy Town.

Remaining matches have St. David's entertaining Somerset, North Village at home to St. George's and Devonshire Colts on the road against Southampton.

ALFIE EVE -- "Things will eventually fall into place.''