Premier giants wary of First Division foes
Two Commercial League teams are certain to reach the quarter-finals of the FA Cup on Sunday, while two top First Division sides aim to join them with upsets over Premier Division clubs.
Commercial champions Robin Hood, the present A Division leaders, should be favoured over another Commercial team, MR Onions, at White Hill while Lobster Pot, third in the tables, are expected to get by last-placed Exiles in another all A Division clash at St. John's field.
But Hood will have to be wary of Onions whose losing start to the season ended when they hammered St. George's All-Stars 7-0 in the last round of the FA Cup.
Before that Onions had lost their first five league games and were sitting in last place. Since then, however, they have climbed steadily up the standings and are now fifth after posting six wins and a draw in their last seven matches.
Bill Spencer, Onions' leading marksman with 11 goals which makes him the joint top scorer in the A Division, will be looking to add to his tally.
White Hill will also host an intriguing clash between long time rivals Devonshire Colts and Devonshire Cougars. Colts, the FA Cup defending champions, should get the nod over their neighbours, though the same thing was said of Somerset Trojans when they made the trip to Devonshire Rec. in the last round.
That 3-1 Cougars win is just the kind of result that will give an off-form Colts team plenty to think about, though the absence of Cougars striker Philip Clarke because of a red card last weekend should work in the champions' favour.
The other First Division team hoping to turn over a Premier Division team are Hamilton Parish who meet Southampton Rangers in the opening match at St.
David's. Rangers have won their last four league games and while they should win comfortably, Parish are more than capable of pulling off a surprise. With promotion now just about out of their reach, Parish see this match as an important one, with little else to play for except a spot in the Shield final.
Two Premier Division teams should have things their own way when they meet lowly opponents. First placed North Village meet bottom team St. David's in the 2.30 match at St. David's while Vasco, despite their recent slump, should still prove too strong for First Division Prospect at Police Field.
The same would have been said of PHC a few weeks ago in their match against Social Club, but five league and cup losses in their last six matches brings them down a notch. As far as Social Club are concerned it happened at just the right time and now they are aiming to capitalise.
A week ago it would have been top of the Premier against top of the First Division, but both teams were knocked out of their high spots following losses last weekend. The Zebras crashed to their third straight league defeat against Dandy Town while Social Club went down to Ireland Rangers who replaced them in first place in the First Division.
Two results from last season, however, should give Social Club tremendous belief in themselves as they take on the free scoring Zebras.
Social Club were the only team to beat the Zebras in the league and then later in the season they shocked Southampton Rangers in the FA Cup.
In PHC, Social Club will have to contend with one of the two most successful teams in the history of the competition, the Zebras having won it nine times along with Somerset. Social Club's three triumphs came in successive years in the 1960s when they were the powers of local football.
Another team with nothing to lose, Fire Service, will look to cause Dandy Town some anxious moments in the other match at St. John's field. On paper Town should be favourites but Fire have players with plenty of cup experience, including player-coach Wendell Simmons who played in Southampton Rangers' cup winning team of 1983-84.