The finalists for the Dudley Eve Trophy will be decided during a double-header at Devonshire Recreation Club tonight.

Dandy Town face Paget Lions in the first semi-final at 7pm before X-Roads clash with PHC two hours later.

Town coach Jarreau Hayward will be looking to go one better than last season, when his side lost on penalties to St George’s Colts in the semi-finals. The East Enders went on to win the competition.

Hayward, an admirer of the way Paget go about their business, is hoping for a good turnout.

“Antwan Russell’s Paget are for real and I like how they play,” Hayward told The Royal Gazette.

“They have youth as well as veteran leadership and we are looking forward to the challenge. Hopefully, the island comes out to see two exciting semi-finals.”

PHC and X-Roads are meeting for the second time in the competition, having played each other in the group stage last month, when the Warriors triumphed 6-2. The two sides collide a few days after PHC triumphed 3-2 in a Premier Division encounter at Lord’s, St David’s, on Sunday.

Farid El Karfa is back in charge of X-Roads after serving a one-match suspension for being sent off in his team’s loss to North Village. The coach is hoping to guide the Warriors to their first final since they reached the FA Cup final in 2019.

“It’s an opportunity for us to advance to the final, represent ourselves and our club to the best way we can,” El Karfa said.

“It’s a good opportunity to reach the final of the Dudley Eve Trophy. I don’t think the club has made it before to the final of this competition, so I think that will be a good motivation for us.

“It feels good to make it to this stage, it’s definitely motivation to push further and to push harder to reach the final. We are up for the challenge and the boys are ready to deliver.”

Reflecting on the third meeting of the season between the two sides, the X-Roads coach felt that both teams stand to benefit from the knowledge they have gained about each other.

“It’s crazy that it’s the third game already at this early point of the season against the same opponents,” he said.

“It goes both ways, we know more about them and vice versa, so it gives the same advantage for both teams, to be honest. It’s good in a way that they know what we are about and we know what they are about.

“We beat them once and they beat us once, so it’s a good opportunity to see who’s going to advance to the next round.”

El Karfa also shared his thoughts on what his side will need to do to secure a place in the final.

“The team that’s going to win the game will be the team that’s more organised defensively and take their chances,” he said.

“We’ll try to be more solid defensively and take the chances. We’re aware that the opposition is a difficult one and somebody with experience in these tournaments. We’re going to try to be as prepared as we could be to get the result that we want.”

It could not be established if PHC had lodged an appeal with the Bermuda Football Association over the sending-off of captain Enrique Russell.

The forward was dismissed with X-Roads defender Jarye Bean, with the two ineligible to feature for their sides in the semi-final encounter unless an appeal is filed.