Having savoured the sweet taste of success, PHC coach Mark Wade hopes that Sunday's Friendship Trophy triumph over North Village was just the spark needed to re-ignite the Zebras, who have a proud cup-winning tradition.

After Wade's team successfully disrupted Village's game plan by taking command of the centre of the park, veteran Kenny Mills showed the PHC faithful that he still has plenty of gas in the tank - and a fine football mind.

And in the end the Zebras ran out comfortable 3-2 winners, dashing North Village hopes of a triple crown in the process.

"We knew that Village would be licking their lips at the prospect of playing on the `carpet' - it suits their passing game," noted Wade.

"Basically what we did was drop off and allow them to play in the first third of the pitch and then try and disrupt them in the middle, and we succeeded."

With the trophy cabinet in the clubhouse collecting dust for the past two seasons, the Warwick side haven't had too much to shout about since they announced their return to the Premier Division in dramatic fashion back in 2000, winning the title at the first bite.

Despite that success, Zebras failed to solidify their prominence, a fact the coach attributes mainly to the inconvenience of training at various venues during the week after work began on the their ground at Stadium Lane.

"When we won the league, basically we were training out of gyms and up at Somerset Cricket Club. It was hard for the players to make that commitment and the following year it showed in our results," said Wade.

"This season we were able to put together a training facility up at Spice Valley (middle school) and I think that has had some bearing on our recent performances."

Wade, himself a former Zebras stalwart, also revealed another motivating factor for Sunday's triumph.

"I said to my players before the game that we own this trophy, it's ours," he exclaimed.

"We have a proud history in the Friendship Trophy and it was up to them to continue the tradition, and at the same time begin their own legacy and maintain the club's cup winning traditions.

"In the end they put it all together and achieved it. It was hard work but it all paid off in the end."

Mills, PHC's menacing forward, can become a defender's nightmare and despite making only a cameo appearance this season, the diehard Zebra seemed to turn it on when it really mattered most.

"Kenny is priceless, he is a great asset to the team in terms of information, skill and experience," said Wade.

"He commits his time whenever possible and the younger players respond to that and he can still do some incredible things on the pitch with the ball."

Now that the cleaning staff at the clubhouse have dusted off the cabinets to display the new trophy, the coach hopes that this latest win will go a long way towards returning Zebras to the top rung on the soccer ladder.

"That's my goal and my role, to get them to experience the feel of winning and to take them from this trophy onto bigger things, not sit back and say, `hey! now I've won a trophy'."