The five-point gap between Devonshire Cougars, the new Premier Division leaders, and Somerset Trojans, in seventh place, could get even tighter after this weekend’s matches.

In a congested table, Hamilton Parish, second, and PHC, third, meet at Wellington Oval, while North Village aim to end their run of three games without a win against Cougars at Bernard Park.

Parish and PHC were disappointed to have their Friendship Trophy tie called off on Thursday night after a heavy downpour just before kick off made the pitch unplayable at Goose Gosling Field.

However, the two teams now switch their attention to tomorrow’s top league encounter as both aim to stay among the pacesetters.

Parish are unbeaten in the league since their opening-day loss to Village, winning three and drawing two of their five matches since.

Kieshon Smith, the Parish coach, was upbeat despite the recent postponements, saying the team is going from strength to strength with new signings and players able to rest injuries.

“Our main focus is to make sure we get as far from the relegation zone as possible, because when you are down in that position stuff happens against you,” Smith said.

“We don’t want to get too ahead of ourselves, just take one game at a time. We have points on the board, have a game in hand on Cougars and if we win that game, we could possibly be top.”

PHC are determined to bounce back after losing both their match and top spot to Cougars last weekend. So, too, will North Village who have slipped to sixth. A derby loss to Cougars could see them trail the leaders by eight points.

Dandy Town, the league champions, have picked up five points since ending their three-game losing streak, but they can expect another tough encounter when they welcome Flanagan’s Onions to St John’s Field. Southampton Rangers are the third team trying to pull away from the relegation zone, having picked up just four points from their six matches. They are at home to Somerset Trojans tomorrow, while tonight St George’s make a second-straight visit to Goose Gosling Field, this time to play Robin Hood in a match-up between the fourth and fifth-placed teams.

Boulevard, the First Division leaders, will look to put a disappointing few days behind them when they play Somerset Eagles at Police Field tomorrow.

The Blazers suffered their first loss in the league last Sunday against Devonshire Colts and on Thursday night were beaten by BAA in the Shield competition.

BAA tomorrow make the short trip to Bernard Park to meet Young Men’s Social Club, while in the other matches St David’s and Devonshire Colts clash at Lord’s and Paget take on Ireland Rangers at Southampton Oval.

The BFA have confirmed new dates for two rounds of make-up matches. Games postponed on the weekend of October 10 because of Tropical Storm Fay have been rescheduled for next weekend.

Meanwhile, the matches called off on November 15 and 16 have been rescheduled for December 21, which completes the first half of the league schedule.