Next month's clash between Hotels and PHC (March 8) should go a long way towards deciding one of the relegation spots from the First Division.

But fans should still brace themselves for one of the most exciting relegation battles among four teams in the final month of the season.

When PHC were relegated for the only time in their history in 1980 and Somerset Trojans suffered the same fate two years ago, these two proud clubs -- with 14 league titles between them -- never dreamed they would again find themselves fighting to stay up.

But along with Devonshire Cougars and Hotels, the fight for survival is very much on and only two will be smiling at the end of the season.

With just two points separating the Trojans in seventh place from bottom team PHC, there is little to choose between the bottom four in the standings.

Hotels, with a game in hand, would appear to have a slight edge. That game against North Village has been rescheduled for this Saturday night at BAA Field.

But it won't count for much if last season's Second Division champions fail to end their six-game winless run.

"Because there isn't a whole of difference between the bottom four teams it could come down to goal difference,'' Hotels coach Robert Calderon accepts.

Hotels have the chance to cap a disappointing season by reaching the Friendship Trophy final tomorrow night with a win in the semi-final against Boulevard. But they would gladly give up on an appearance in the final for survival.

With Vasco due to wrap up their second league title, the attention will switch to the more interesting relegation battle.

Somerset would appear to have the tougher road with matches against Boulevard, Vasco and Village among their last three. Cougars have to play Southampton Rangers, Colts and Vasco while PHC close their season with two tough games against Dandy Town and Rangers.

After Village and PHC, Hotels will close with games against Boulevard and Colts.

"I'm sure Colts and Boulevard will play very hard against us but very soon they will be out of the First Division fight,'' said Calderon.

"That means you'll play against teams that have something to play for but not a whole lot and whether that plays out in a favourable way for you or not is something I take into consideration every time we play a team.'' The postponement of Hotels match with Village last week means that Chris Sabir will serve his one game suspension against Boulevard in the Cup rather than Village in the league. Considering the lack of depth in their squad one player could make a big difference, especially with key defender Clifford Roberts still out through injury and very likely to miss the rest of the season.

"He is clearly our best defender,'' said Calderon whose team's defensive record is the best of the bottom teams. At the same time they have still to reach double figures in scoring, having found the net just nine times in 14 outings.

"Our problem is two-fold: one, lack of numbers and then being restricted,'' said the coach.

"We are without Clifford and will probably be for the rest of the season. We are struggling with 13 players and that's not an excuse.

"Our season was always going to be problematic when we weren't able to secure the people that we wanted.'' Hotels have not won in the league since beating Boulevard at the end of November. They need another couple of wins to pull out of the relegation zone.

"If we can get six more points we should be alright,'' said Calderon who acknowledges that the meeting against the Zebras could be the clincher.

"What we were hoping for is that we would be in a position where we could get four draws.'' PHC have been bringing back college students Blenn Bean, Desmond Burgess and Stanton Lewis to help their fight against relegation and their chance of achieving that must be as good as the three teams above.

"They have been able to bring in players every game and they truly have improved their situation considerably,'' Calderon said of the Zebras.

Cougars will be hoping to get the six points they need for survival in their next two matches against Rangers and Colts, rather than have to beat Vasco in their last game of the season.

Earlier this season Randy Horton, who returned as coach of Somerset last season in the Second Division, vowed that they would not be returning to the lower division. They looked safe after a couple of wins recently but their woes continued with a hammering at the hands of Rangers on Sunday.

Before their match with Rangers, Horton estimated that two more wins would see them to safety.

That would still appear to be the magic number, which would mean beating the likes of Boulevard, Vasco and Village.