One of the favourites to lift the Friendship Trophy will be eliminated from the competition in the preliminary round tonight.

Two of the country’s best teams, PHC and North Village, are set to do battle at PHC Field at 8pm after the two Bermuda giants were drawn to play against each other last month.

After a successful weekend for both teams, with PHC beating Devonshire Colts 2-0 on Sunday and North Village thrashing St George’s 4-1 on Friday night, morale should be high in both camps as the team find form after stuttering starts to the season.

But after some early hiccups, the two teams are now in title contention, with Village and PHC second and third in the Premier Division respectively on 12 points, just a point behind league leaders Dandy Town.

Enrique Russell, who came off the bench after an hour to score a late penalty against Colts on Sunday, is likely to lead the line for PHC, who were beaten by Dandy Town in the final last year.

The other preliminary round game also takes place at PHC Field tomorrow, with St George’s taking on Paget.

The winner of that game will face PHC or Village in the quarter-finals, with that round also featuring Young Men’s Social Club taking on Devonshire Cougars, Dandy Town squaring off against Boulevard Blazers and X-Roads playing Devonshire Colts.

Those matches are scheduled to be played over the weekend of December 19 to 21