Somerset Trojans continue their quest to become the first club to lift ten FA Cup titles tomorrow at Southampton Oval.

Trojans, buoyed by last weekend’s convincing 4-0 Friendship Trophy final win over league champions Devonshire Cougars, are currently tied with PHC Zebras and North Village for the most wins (nine) in the competition.

But with both Village and Zebras having been ousted from the competition, Trojans find themselves in an ideal position to add to their already illustrious cup history.

The West Enders will do battle with a Boulevard team looking to salvage something from a season that promised so much.

Yet while Trojans have beaten their city rivals on three occasions this season, not much has really separated the two Premier Division clubs.

“I think things have been evenly balanced between us and Somerset this season, and I anticipate Sunday’s match will be just as close,” predicted Boulevard coach John Rebello, who knows a thing or two about winning the FA Cup.

Given the manner in which Trojans ruthlessly shredded Cougars last Sunday at the National Sports Centre, the West Enders will enter tomorrow’s clash as firm favourites to advance to a first final since 1990.

But Rebello isn’t about to throw in the towel.

“Somerset are red hot at the moment but our guys are geared up for the match. I think it’s all going to boil down to which team really wants it the most on the day,” he said.

Rebello, however, believes that his team could be at a slight disadvantage having not kicked a ball competitively since March 18.

“Somerset have played three matches in the past few weeks while for one reason or the other we have had our preparations interrupted,” he said.

“So I do feel that we will be the underdogs going into the match while Dennis (Trojans coach Dennis Brown) has got his team playing some aggressive football at the moment.”

In spite of recent cup success, the temperamental Brown is far from a contented man.

“We definitely still have a lot to play for and I think our last victory (against Cougars) will have absolutely no bearing on this game,” Brown said.

The former Bermuda national team skipper has warned his team against complacency and he insists on taking the cautious route, wary of the fact the perennial cup giants have stumbled twice at this stage of the competition in the past three seasons.

“Boulevard have been a very difficult opponent for us all season and so obviously we can’t look beyond them,” he noted. “So we are just going to have to prepare for them like we prepare for any other game.”

Tomorrow’s Trojans versus Blazers clash will be preceded by the Women’s FA Cup semi-final involving Dandy Stars and league newcomers St.George’s.

[bul] Bermuda’s three national youth teams found the going tough over the past week during their debut appearance at the Dallas Cup in the US.

The Island’s Under 13, 14 and 15 representatives all failed to win a single match and combined to score only three goals against their rivals in their respective divisions.

Bermuda Under 13s lost all three of their Group D matches, going down 2-1 to DWF Tejanos Premier, 4-0 against FC Barcelona USA and 1-0 to Lonestar Red.

And the Island’s Under 15 national team also struggled, losing 2-0 to Celtic Harps, 2-0 against Lonestar Red and 2-1 to Cobb Chiefs Premier.

The Under-16 national team came closest to pulling off a win as they held FC Portland Academy to a scoreless draw, but losses to Dallas Texans Red (3-0) and Chicago Magic (3-1) also condemned them to the bottom of the pile in their division.