Boulevard will look to bounce back from an opening day defeat when they begin their Dudley Eve Group B campaign tonight against PHC in the second match of a double-header at Devonshire Rec.

With so much hype and expectation surrounding the side, they failed to deliver in their 2-0 defeat to Dudley Eve champions Dandy Town on Sunday with a display that was far from their best.

Yet assistant coach Gary Adams is adamant that his team will rebound given they know what they lacked in the loss.

"In the game against Town at times we looked good but we lacked intensity and we as a team came out flat," said Adams. "If we would have come out with intensity, we could have won.

"Credit to them though, they deserved to win but we didn't come to play, we merely went through the motions.

"We still have to play the same system. In the match on Sunday we lacked discipline and tomorrow (today) they will have to bring both intensity and discipline if they are to be competitive.

"PHC will come out looking to keep their momentum from the (2-1) win over Rangers and we have lost our first game so it will be interesting."

Losing on the first weekend of the season won't do too much harm to those eyeing the league title, although they are now in the chasing pack.

Adams stated that defeat could even be a blessing, in that it could motivate his players and a setback at this early stage was better than a loss later in the season.

Another motivating factor for the club, said Adams, was the thought of revenge after last year's heartbreaking penalty shoot-out final defeat to eventual champions Town.

PHC are coming off a thrilling win at home over Southampton Rangers who have title ambitions of their own.

And even if the Zebras come out on top again tonight, Adams said there wouldn't be any pushing of the panic button.

"It is not a knock-out game, so it's not do or die," added the coach. "Obviously we want to put in a good performance but there may be a few changes to the side to get players in to use it as a stepping-stone.

"The loss could be a blessing in disguise. I certainly would rather lose the first game of the season than one more important in the middle of the season.

"We already have a trophy (Charity Cup) but it is back to reality and focus on what is in front of us.

'We want to win everything and it starts tonight.

"The panic button isn't going to be pushed as we still have players to come back into the team.

"The mindset is still the same, we just need to apply the necessary things to get the result we want."

The opening match of the night will see Dandy Town clash with Hamilton Parish in Group A.

Town will be in a buoyant mood after a well earned win over Blazers while Parish will be looking to improve on their 1-1 performance against Somerset Trojans.

North Village make up the three teams in Group B while Devonshire Cougars are the third side in Group A.

n Bermudian goalkeeper Freddy Hall stopped all six shots he faced as his Quinnipiac University Bobcats' team played to a scoreless draw with Robert Morris over the weekend.

The game was the Northeast Conference opener for both teams. The Bobcats' record is now 3-0-5.

Hall's saves earned him his fourth shutout of the season.