Dudley Eve semi-final a week ago, then the two leg-final tomorrow and next Wednesday should be an exciting one.

Their last meeting in this competition produced five goals with Colts winning 3-2 to reach their third final. Now the event's inaugural winners will meet the most successful Dudley Eve team on two more occasions before a new winner is crowned on New Year's Day at St. David's.

"Now it's final time and the only thing about this trophy is you can afford to lose,'' said PHC coach Jack Castle. His team have taken the long route to the final and by next week will have played five demanding matches in 14 days while Colts have enjoyed a week's break.

But Castle was quick to tell his players after Thursday's narrow win over Vasco: "If history can repeat itself then we can go on and win the Dudley Eve.'' The coach was referring to the fact that teams have lost one of their first two matches before and still won the cup. Colts themselves did it when they became the first winners in 1982-83.

The last time it was achieved was in 1989-90 when PHC came back from losing their opening game against Dandy Town 4-0 to win the two-leg final with a 4-1 win and a 2-2 draw against Town.

The previous year PHC took the long road again, losing to Dandy Town 3-1 in the first semi-final and then having to play Boulevard before reaching the final where this time they beat Town 5-3 on penalties. The aggregate was tied after PHC won 3-2 and then lost 2-1.

Some minor adjustments will be made for the Colts clash as PHC seek to extend their record number of wins to six.

"We're going to do something light and look at some areas which I think we need to work on for Devonshire Colts,'' said Castle of his team's training session today.

"It's just a matter of trying to preach to the players that they need to give their bodies a rest. It's a matter of how the players fare, we've got enough depth with the college players back here. We can rest a few fellas and see what we can do on Sunday.'' The final will involve two of the youngest teams in the First Division, with Colts also putting a heavy emphasis on youngsters. Goalkeeper Troy Hall has boosted them defensively and their record in that department is the best in the division. PHC's first choice goalkeeper, Jay Smith, is just 17 while some of his team-mates are not much older.

The two teams have almost identical records with both scoring 19 goals from nine league matches, while Colts have conceded seven and PHC nine.

The opening match at 12.30 will see Boulevard taking on North Village in the Junior Premier Knockout semi-final, with the winners meeting Southampton Rangers in the final on New Year's Day at St. David's.