Johnson's men draw short straw in cup

GUERNSEY will test their promotion credentials on Sunday when they begin their Hampshire Cup campaign away to United Services Portsmouth. The Sarnians' opposition play in London South-West Division Four, the league above Hampshire One and one to which Rob Box's men aspire.

'I imagine they will be a big, strong side and it will be a test for us, but that is what we have to face every game if we get promotion,' said the coach.

With the match being 24 hours later than the Saturday league fixtures that Guernsey are used to, the greens have delayed naming their side to allow players with niggling injuries time to prove their fitness.

One man who will not be travelling is Divan van den Heever, who was taken to hospital with a head injury against Millbrook.

The South-African fly-half suffered no long-term damage, just bad concussion, but he is expected to be out of action for a minimum of eight weeks. Prop Steve Hale is also due to miss out once again because of an elbow injury.

Skipper Carl Johnson, who became a father this week, said that although the league remains the team's top priority, victory in the cup would be a morale boost.

'US Portsmouth have played at a lot higher level than that, even up to just a couple of years ago, but their problem recently has been that there has been quite a bit of action for the services in the Gulf and Afghanistan so they had no team left.

'If there are ships in at the moment, they could have the Navy side playing, but the downside is you don't know how strong they will be until the day.'

A last-eight place is the reward for Guernsey should they win but Johnson emphasised that the cup is secondary to the league

'For us the league is the main focus and we will use this game to try out one or two other combinations and try and give guys like Graham Hards, who played 40 minutes last week after returning from injury, a full 80 minutes.