Winning the FA Cup final on Sunday will be icing on the cake for Boulevard. By reaching the National Stadium for this game they have done a master reconstruction job, and even the most loyal Devonshire Colts supporter may find it hard to deny Boulevard deserve a major award for pulling off this tremendous feat.

Nobody now is more anxious to see a triumphant climax to the season for Boulevard than Gary Mallory, the coach and individual responsible for successfully rallying the team when all seemed lost.

Taking over at the helm last October when Andrew Bascome withdrew his services as coach for personal reasons shortly after the season started, Mallory turned a skeleton unit into the serious contenders they are today.

"It was commendable for our players to unite and fight their way back to the top, so many did well to fill in when it counted,'' said Mallory.

"Things were rough back then, at one time we only had nine regulars out. The players simply put a lot into their game and things turned out rather well.'' One would think Boulevard are concerned going into Sunday's match-up after coming off a strenuous semifinal against Dandy Town that saw three replays taking place before they managed to conquer their opponents.

However, Mallory does not think that the tough matches against Town will have any effect on his team.

"We have had a lot of rest since the replays and the tough games against Town won't effect us at all. We are not going to be flat or tired as a result,'' he said.

The fact that Boulevard are not worried about the strength of their opponents is obvious when Mallory reveals that he did not even bother to watch the recent Friendship Trophy final between Colts and North Village at National Stadium. The coach said that he saw Colts in the FA Cup semifinal and reckoned that they are a team who do not change their style that much.

"If we were concerned and watched what they did they will probably make changes for the final anyway. I wouldn't be surprised on Sunday to see them use player/coach Lorenzo Symonds and Harrison Trott, but whichever team they chose I know we will be ready for them,'' said Mallory.

"Experience is on my side, they have to come to us. Colts are also coming off a recent loss. We are a well-rested team and the experience we have could really be the key in this final.'' Just as he has done throughout the season, Mallory has to fiddle with his line-up for Sunday with skipper Albert Smith forced to withdraw because of injury. In Smith's absence forward Dwight Warren will captain the team.

The coach would not commit himself by announcing his starters but he has confirmed that Kevin Smith, older brother of Albert, will be brought here from his home in the United States for the game and play in midfield. It is believed that Brian Anderson will replace his skipper on the left side of the midfield.

It remains to be seen if centre-back Wayne Richardson will continue to operate in midfield after playing there the last few games with Kenneth Darrell playing alongside Leroy Stevens at centre-back.

Mallory respects the scoring ability of Colts, but says that he has no fear of their forwards and therefore has no intentions of employing any man-to-man marking assignments for his defenders.

"On the given day they have proven to be capable of scoring a lot of goals, but by the same token our defence is capable of shutting them out on any given day,'' said Mallory.

"Their strength is in their front line and the job for our defence is going to be to contain them. National Stadium is a big field and I think it suits us better. We are going there to play soccer, we are going there to entertain and do the best to win this game.'' GARY MALLORY -- `It was commendable for our players to unite and fight their way back to the top...'