Robin Hood and Dandy Town Hornets will meet in the Premier Division season opener tonight just like they did a year ago, but this time the roles are reversed with Hood starting off as league champions.

Last year, they visited St John’s Field and came away with a 3-1 victory, a result that started a Town slump as the 2015-16 champions lost the first four matches of their title defence. The bad run was eventually halted after Town collected just one point from their opening seven matches, which left them bottom of the table and 18 points behind leaders PHC Zebras.

Town’s torrid start ended with a 5-1 thrashing of Flanagan’s Onions in early December, although the damage was already done for coach Jomar Wilkinson, who was fired later that month. The team recovered in the second half of the campaign under new coach Kwame Steede, but they still failed to achieve a top-six finish that would have secured qualification for the Dudley Eve Trophy.

That means that tonight’s game at Goose Gosling Field, which kicks off at 9pm, will be Town’s first competitive match of the campaign. Hood already have three under their belt — the Charity Cup, which they lost to PHC, and the win and loss in their two Dudley Eve Trophy matches, against Somerset Trojans and North Village.

“We’ve had some practice matches and had games in which we could have done better, but overall preparation has been decent,” John Barry Nusum, the coach said.

Nusum took over from Kyle Lightbourne, who stepped down after leading Hood to their first league title last season. “We’re still not at full flight just yet but we are ready to start the season and hopefully we can start with a win,” Nusum added.

Hood have boosted their ranks with some key signings, including midfielders Mazhye Burchall, from PHC, and Lozendro Symonds, the son of former Bermuda captain Lorenzo Symonds, from Devonshire Colts.

“He has come in and we’re looking for great things from him” Nusum said of Symonds. “But it’s going to be an adjustment for him as well, as he has been at Colts since I can remember,”

Defender William White has also joined the club from Somerset, but he has since departed for school abroad. However, the signing of another defender, Dante Leverock, is timely as captain Darius Cox is recovering from surgery and is expected to be out for several weeks.

“We had the Charity Cup and the Dudley Eve, three competitive matches as opposed to practice matches, and it gave us matches in which to look at players in different roles and different formations,” Nusum said. “It was good to see what they had already established. They were the champions last year and it would be very bold of me to just change everything, even though I have my own thoughts and philosophies. It will be a gradual process.”

Town have captured Ian Coke from Boulevard Blazers, last season’s MVP and joint top scorer with his new partner, Angelo Simmons, also a former Boulevard player. That pairing offers some mouthwatering possibilities, making Town one of the title favourites, although Hood also have a potent front line, with Lejuan Simmons, Antwan Russell and Shakir Smith set to cause concern for opposing defences.

“Dandy Town is going to be a tough game,” Nusum said. “They have the leading scorers from last year so they are going to be a threat and we just have to make sure that we play a sound game, do the right things and work for each other.

“I’ve given Antwan a challenge, as he may be overlooked as the top goalscorer that he is. He can be the top scorer [this season] because he has done that before and has the quality to do it [again].”

Nusum is aware of Town’s disappointing start to the last campaign and hopes to avoid a similar start.

“We were talking about that, but that’s life and you can only play one game at a time,” the coach said. “We’ll just try to win the next game that we have in front of us and that’s Dandy Town.

“We set a bar with Kyle’s team, but the progression of the club is to make sure that we build on that.”

Town have also been boosted by the return of defender George Dyer, after a season with Wolves, while they have also picked up defender Kemon Simmons from Southampton Rangers, goalkeeper Troy Hall from PHC and Ernest Trott, a midfielder from Boulevard.

Robin Hood meet X-Roads in their next match before taking on Devonshire Cougars, the Dudley Eve Trophy and Friendship Trophy winners last season, and PHC, FA Cup winners and Premier Division runners-up, in their first four fixtures.

PHC are away to Flanagan’s Onions tomorrow, while North Village play Boulevard at Bernard Park.

Young Men’s Social Club celebrate their return to the top flight after 37 years with a home match against Somerset Trojans at their new home field, Police Field.

X-Roads make their debut as a Premier Division club at home to Devonshire Cougars as top-flight football returns to Garrison Field, in St George’s.