After retaining their fourth successive league title Monkton Swifts now go into Saturday's Senior Cup final as favourites.

Remarkably, the Swifts have never in their long history achieved the double, but this time round I have sneaky feeling they will just have the edge over young Herbie.

Swifts manager Benno Jones was not best pleased when I predicted a few seasons ago that Merlins Bridge would turn them over. However, I did get it right.

Well just to please you Benno, I'm putting my head on the block and your side had better come up with the goods and not let me down.

The Swifts will surely have learned from the heartache of losing that particular final against the Wizards.

The whole squad is bursting with experience and quality, but they must not let themselves down by getting involved in any unsavoury business.

If the flighty Swifts can stay totally focused and keep cool heads, their magical football will do the talking.

Goalkeeper Craig Rearden has been as solid as a rock all season, but the Swifts have been dealt a hammer blow because central defender Ben Jones received a three match ban as a result of a recent sending off against Haverfordwest County.

Jamie Callan and Shaun Jones will now form the heart of their defence, with right-back Ben Nicholas and left-back Daniel Hart making up the defensive quartet.

Skipper Dai Patterson will be the catalyst in central midfield alongside the vastly experienced Marcus Taylor.

Dan Scourfield's pace will cause problems on the left, while classy Ben Goldsmith, recovered from an ankle injury, will pose a big threat on the right.

Prolific goal poacher Stephen Davies, fresh from last Sunday's London marathon, will have to be marked very closely and his co-striker, Lee Jones, will alternate between midfield and up front can cause problems.

Clem Boswell, Chrissie Manning and Dean Driscoll are all valuable assets on the bench.

The Swifts have beaten Herbie once this season, and they let a two-goal half-time lead slip as they finally drew 2-2 at Herbie a few weeks ago.

It's not going to be easy, because young Herbie are renowned battlers and on the day anything can happen. Good luck to both teams and let's hope it's a cracker.

Bill Carne fancies Herbie to win it.

Could this be the year of the underdog? I think it could and although my head tells me Monkton Swifts are favourites to scoop the Senior Cup my heart says this year could see Herbrandston win on their very first venture into the final of Pembrokeshire's Blue Riband event.

My colleague Gordon Thomas would say the Swifts have experience where it counts and that can't be denied, with some of their players having played in several cup finals, plus the fact Herbie have so many young players who could freeze on the Bridge Meadow, and he's right.

But that is just why I think Steve Batty's boys could well create a shock.

Because they are so young, they have little fear and Steve has instilled a real self-belief in their play. Their average age is only 21 and they have a terrific team spirit since most of them have grown up together in the village and at Milford School, and if they can start well it could be very interesting.

They are un uncompromising, hard-tackling bunch but to say that they only play route one football for Nicky Woodrow to score goals is vastly unfair because there is skill aplenty in a very fit squad. Matthew Price is captain and does the job by leading from the front, with his non-stop running in midfield alongside Nico Giannuzzi, with Marc Gelona a good crosser from the right and with Mike Turpin a deadly deliverer at set-pieces on the left.

It is a solid midfield and at the back they have a choice of Carlo Giannuzzi, Adam and Alex Galdo at the heart of the defence, all three strong in the air and good distributors of the ball, with Adam also able to play full back, Carlo in midfield and Alex only recently converted from striker and able to push up if they need a change of tactics.

Adrian Rees and Leigh Marchant play at full back and both like to push forward, with Marchant again a good deliverer of balls into the box.

The defence is completed by Martin Langdon, who I think is the most under-rated keeper in the county. He has sound positional sense, commands his box well and has the added bonus of being a very good penalty taker.

Mark Jones could share the striking duties with Nicky Woodrow and although just 18 he is the only one with previous Senior Cup final experience. He has pace aplenty and acts as an excellent foil for Woodhouse, who is the league's in-form striker, as he proved when he grabbed the only goal of the semi-final.

They have useful replacements and Steve Batty and assistant Justin Goffin, both good readers of their game after 25 shared years, have a problem of who to pick since Lee McNeil, Simon Mathias, Craig Hewer and Peter Frank also very much in contention for a coveted final spot in the squad.

It all adds up to an interesting challenge for such a youthful outfit - and as an old fogey myself I think this really could be a year to remember for Batty's boys.