Their Premier Division league championship hopes shattered, Devonshire Cougars are hoping to find better hunting ground in Sunday?s FA Cup Final at the National Sports Centre.

Cougars were pipped for the championship by a mere point by eventual champions Dandy Town, their opponents in Sunday?s season-ending final on the ?carpet?.

However, inspirational player/coach Shawn Smith reckons losing out to Hornets for the league title might have given his colleagues an added incentive heading into Sunday?s crucial cup final.

?I think that has given us more incentive because the league title was never in our hands. . . . we had our points. It was always going to be an outside chance they (Town) would draw or lose against Somerset Eagles,? he said.

?The guys might have been a little disappointed but realistically we didn?t do enough to deserve it (league) throughout the season. But if the guys can learn from that then we should be OK come Sunday.?

Though it remains to be seen whether or not those lessons were learned, Smith, 34, reckons mentally his team will be stronger.

?Mentally I think we are a stronger unit but it (the final) could also boil down to fitness and our final preparations. But we should be okay and when you compare both teams I think we pretty much match up evenly in defence and attack,? he said.

?We are confident we can learn from our shortcomings. There has to be a reason why we haven?t won it (FA Cup).?

The veteran player described Town as a ?well organised unit?.

?They (Town) have done good this season. But we just have to stick together and play as team in order to break their momentum. Our defence has done pretty good this season, though we have lacked at times. But we definitely have to keep a close eye on Carlos and Khano Smith and shut them down,? he added.

Sunday will be Cougars? third FA Cup Final overall and they will be looking to end their cup jinx having lost in their previous two appearances in the final of the prestigious event.

?We?ve made a few trips to the carpet but never won. But now we have a team capable of making history and we have to believe in ourselves in order to overcome any obstacles before us,? said Smith. ?But everyone is looking forward to Sunday and the size of the pitch could play to our advantage. The more space Packy (Raymond Beach) and Heys (Heys Wolfe) have the better.?

Much will also be expected from skipper Kwame Steede, midfielders Domico Coddington, Mark Smith and Kori Goddard along with Smith in the heart of the team?s defence.

Cougars possess a good blend of youth and experience and Smith is confident his younger colleagues will all rise to Sunday?s challenge.

?They are young, energetic and like the atmosphere,? he added. ?But the main thing is for them to keep focused. Everyone is ready and raring to go and if all goes according to plan then we should come out on top.?