North Village are seeking to pick up where they left off last season - at the summit of local soccer.

First challenge for the reigning Premier Division and FA Cup champions is tomorrow's Charity Cup Final match against an explosive Devonshire Cougars line-up at BAA Field.

Village got the better of Cougars, last season's Martonmere Cup champions, during the two city rivals' last meeting, Scott Morton's men blasting four goals past Albert Smith's gifted young side.

However, it was the green and gold who emerged victorious prior to that, beating Village in the Martonmere Cup final when Cougars finally announced their arrival with an exciting 3-2 win at St. David's.

"Basically, I haven't heard too much about Cougars, and I haven't seen any major transfers, but it's unfortunate that they lost Cory Smith (killed in a traffic accident) the other day," said Morton.

"He was a very committed player, but other than that I'm expecting another good contest against them on Saturday night, though I must admit that we gave them a good licking the last time we met them."

The Village coach noted that progress at the club was moving along slowly, but nonetheless in a positive manner.

"We haven't got off to a massive start as far as people being consistent in training, but since I've returned the numbers have increased and the two practice matches that we've had have been very promising," he said.

"It's been a good gauge for me to see what fitness level we're at and also how the younger players are progressing along with the established players that we already have," added the coach, now entering his third term at the helm of the Bernard Park club.

Morton welcomed the recent acquisitions of Keith Jennings from Boulevard, Mackie Crane from St. George's and another talented youngster, 16-year-old Ariell Evans, a born Bermudian who has been residing in Texas for several years.

Morton was also adamant that Kentoine Jennings would be staying with Village, stating that the key player would be his new assistant this season.

Southampton Rangers had hoped that Jennings would join them as player-coach and are reported to have even paid him a signing-on fee.

However, the immediate future of Dwayne (Streaker) Adams, Village's top `keeper, remains up in the air as sources close to the club recently revealed that he was still contemplating a move to Somerset Trojans.

Village emerged unscathed during the off-season transfer period, leaving the coach with his regular cast of players.

"What's promising for us, and I also told the players this, is that overall we haven't lost anyone who played a key role in us winning championships in the last two seasons," Morton pointed out.

"So basically we have the same team and it's easier for my players to gel earlier than other teams, because everyone knows one another and we have players who have played with one another for years. The consistency has been excellent and I haven't had any problems with it, especially after seeing the amount of transfers involving other teams.

"It's going to take those teams some time to get themselves into a nice groove, so hopefully we can capitalise on that and get off to a good start."

As regards tomorrow's encounter with Cougars, Morton said: "First of all, being it's the first game of the season, I'm not asking for too much.

"Basically I've told my players to go out there and enjoy the night. It's the first game of season so try not to pick up any unnecessary injuries. Yes, we would love to win, but my emphasis is on improving some of the deficiencies that we had last year like conceding goals.

"Last season, although we played more matches than anyone else, we still conceded about 31 goals, so that's one of things that we want to work on this season."