New skipper unafraid to lead from the back

LORNA BROWN will be leading from the back as Guernsey look to regain the inter-insular trophy tomorrow. But, as she said, she is not backward in coming forward.

The Nerine Trust defensive star will captain the Sarnian team that is looking to avenge last year's defeat at Fort Regent and she is not afraid of being a vocal leader in pursuit of victory.

'I am really pleased to be given the opportunity,' said Brown.

'I thought maybe I would be because I am playing goalkeeper and it is a good position to be able to gee up your team and you see everything going on in front of you, so you can pass things on to the rest of the players.'

Playing GK will be a change from her usual club position of goal-defence but Brown has plenty of experience in that position from her time with Western Park, in Hampshire.

She is looking forward to the challenge of reverting to the keeper position tomorrow when she will be up against Jersey's star GS Zoe Hotton.

'I do like goal-defence but I will do a job in the keeper position. If we need to make a change, we will. In the UK I always used to play GK at NCL Division One level.

'I like a good battle so I am looking forward to it, especially playing against Zoe this year,

'It will be interesting playing against her because I have been known to be aggressive and she is what I call a pretty player. Hopefully, I will be able to rattle her.'

Brown's usual GD bib is being taken by 18-year-old Naomi Taylor.

With the latter studying in the UK, they have combined in defence on only a couple of occasions when Nerine have travelled to England for National Clubs League matches.

But the island captain said that the partnership had much potential and should form a solid foundation for the rest of the team.

'We both respond to shouting and direction so she slots in quite quickly.

Moving on to Guernsey's attack, Brown acknowledged that it would be a strange experience for the Sarnians to be without her twin, Jenny Jordan, who moved to New Zealand in January.

It has taken a while for her to get used to stepping on court without her sister playing at the other end.

'When we are going on ECL games, I feel a bit lost not having her around. I keep her informed of how we are doing, though, and I will certainly be on the phone to her after the game.'

But Guernsey are fortunate to have someone of Sonia Grant-Yendell's calibre to replace Jordan. She will win her first cap tomorrow partnering Kerrie Hussey in attack.

'Without Jen, it has taken us a while to fill her place but I have confidence in Sonia and Kerrie.

'Sonia has settled in now while Kerrie is quite new to shooting but she has got the ability and I just hope nerves don't affect her too much. A good thing is that Sonia has a calming influence on her.'

In some ways it is surprising that Brown is not an attacker.

As well as turning out for Nerine every week, she also stars for HSH Nordbank, the Division Three table toppers in the Guernsey Basketball Association league.

She leads the way in the scoring charts, having accrued 175 points from eight games.

Only one other player in the division has reached treble figures - a certain Kerrie Brown, Lorna's daughter, who followed in her aunt's footsteps rather than her mother's and became a goal-attack in netball.

Kerrie will be featuring twice this weekend as she plays for both Guernsey under-15s and the under-18s.

'I got really emotional when I watched her in the under-14s last year and she played really well. I feel more nervous for her when she is playing than I get when I play,' the mother said of the daughter.

But back to the seniors and Guernsey will be going into the inter-insular on the back of two defeats in their final ECL trip of the season.

However, the performances against both division winners Cornwall and West Devon were good and the Sarnian squad was depleted for the double-header.

'But it wasn't that bad a season when you take into account the games that we did lose and we could have won and playing double-headers is tiring. When you play a hard game on a Saturday, trying to get out of bed and perform again the next day is difficult.

'I was pleased with the way the court play went, though. Over the last few games, the court work has been really good.'

Brown believes that with the addition of Taylor and Queripel, those decent performances can be turned into victory against Jersey tomorrow.

'Jersey have got very accurate shooters and show good aggression on court and we cannot shy away from that, but we might have more speed and fitness.

'We have got a young side, but this is the strongest the squad has been all season.

'Nena has got an England background, Naomi is at Bath playing regularly in the UK, Claire is playing for her university and both Sonia and I have played National Clubs Division One In effect, we have got a lot of experience there and it covers all areas of the court.'

There is the added bonus of having home advantage for the first time in three years and Brown signed off by encouraging spectators to come along and support the Guernsey sides at Beau Sejour.

'It will certainly lift the team to have as many people there as possible.'