Devonshire Cougars begin the defence of their Friendship Trophy title with a preliminary round tie against fellow powerhouse North Village.Cougars, who claimed the Triple Crown last season, and Premier Division title contenders Village are scheduled to meet on Sunday, November 3 at a venue yet to be determined.The winner of the mouth-watering matchup will advance to the quarter-finals of the competition where they will face the winner of Dandy Town and Wolves on Sunday, December 15.In the other quarter-final matches, Flanagan’s Onions play St David’s, Somerset Cricket Club take on PHC, and Southampton Rangers lock horns with Hamilton Parish.All venues are still to be decided.Parish goalkeeper Nigel Burgess believes his side’s quarter-final game against Rangers will be evenly-matched tie.“Rangers have had a good start to the season, and so have we, so it could be a battle,” he said.“We always compete well against each other so it should be an interesting game.“A cup run would be nice and we will look to progress as far as we possibly can and surprise a few teams along the way.“We put the work in pre-season and we’ve made a good start to the Premier Division season, so we’re feeling confident at the moment.”In the First Division Shield competition, Boulevard take on X’Roads while Somerset Eagles face YMSC in the preliminary round, to be played on Sunday, November 3.The Shield quarter-final games will see the winner of Boulevard/X’Roads play Paget, St George’s take on BAA, Robin Hood meet Devonshire Colts, and the winner of Eagles/YMSC face Ireland Rangers.Those fixtures are to be held on Sunday, December 15. All venues are still to be decided.Colts president Ray Jones said cup run would serve as a boost to his side’s promotion ambitions.“It’s an interesting draw for us. Hood have had a good start to the season and it will be a good match for the fans to come and see.“Me and (Hood coach) Kyle Lightbourne go back a long from when we played against each other and it’s always good to take on his teams.“Colts have won our first three games of the season and I feel we should be looking to achieve promotion this season and move back into the big-time.“Colts haven’t had any silverware for quite some time and it would certainly be nice to give our fans something to cheer about.”