Guernsey to face Leeds

GUERNSEY'S triumphant squad has been rewarded for their latest HA Trophy success with a home draw against Leeds. But they might still have to play that tie in England, because the Yorkshire club could invoke a condition of Guernsey's participation in the competition which would force the Sarnians to travel across the Channel.

'They can make us go across to the nearest available port, but I hope that does not happen. I use certain tactics to make sure that sides decide to come over here.

'Leeds would have to drive all the way down south before the match.

'They either drive 500 miles and play at 12 on a Sunday, or have to travel the day before, stay overnight, play, then travel back; or they fly here on the Saturday morning for a match in the afternoon. I'll be suggesting that the last option is better for them.

'They will have to let us know by tomorrow. If they do not, then we will have to decide whether we fund the whole lot or go across to the UK.

The costs for a visiting side must be met by the Guernsey Hockey Association. For the previous round, when Wednesbury came over, that fee was £105 for each of the 17-strong party.

'But it is cheaper to bring teams here than for us to go away,' said Graham.

'If we travel, it's £100 just for the flight, then there is hotel accommodation on top of that at about £35 to £40.'

'For the Leeds match, we have a great deal on flights. Aurigny has been really good to us, as has Flybe.'

Graham is keen to bring Leeds over. The atmosphere at Foote's Lane has certainly helped the Guernsey squad. There were hundreds at the ground last weekend. It is possible that the crowd may be allowed inside the fence for the next match, although they would still be roped off away from the edge of the pitch.

'The support was just fabulous; it was a huge advantage. The balcony was packed and there were people lined up all down one side of the pitch behind the fence.'

Guernsey will be missing three of the side that started against Wednesbury: Tristan Cairns will have gone travelling, Kevin Doyle is getting married in South Africa and Mark Babbe will be attending the service.

Guernsey have ready-made replacements, though. Andy Bell and Dave Enevoldsen are itching to pull on a Guernsey shirt: both have missed out due to police training and injury respectively.

'We can never tell at what level these teams will play. We don't know too much about them yet,' said Graham.

'With the sides that are left in the competition, we have not done too badly drawing Leeds. They play in Division Two of their league; Preston and a couple of others left play in higher divisions, so we have been fairly lucky.'

Leeds play in the Northern Counties Hockey League Division Two (East).

Hayes, the captain, is their leading scorer, with a third of the team's 39 goals this season.

They are currently in a poor run of league form. After defeats in their first two matches, Leeds put together a run of five wins which moved them up to second in the table. But that has all changed since the middle of November. In their past nine games, they have won once, drawn twice and slumped to defeat in the rest, conceding 25 goals in that time.

The current record of P16 W6 D2 L8 F38 A 39 Pts 20 leaves them only mid-table.

Their HA Trophy exploits have been better, with wins against Marton Furness (5-2), Rugby (3-2) and Bridgnorth (4-2).