Imperative for former champions to rebuild

SO NORTH'S season hasn't counted for nowt. Tuesday's wonderful Wheway Cup triumph goes some way to easing the pain of their Priaulx League slip and today at the Corbet Field Geoff Tardif's men could add the Jeremie to their ever-expanding trophy cabinet.

All the while there will be covetous glances from the once-mighty Sylvans whose miserable season reached its nadir at the Corbet Field on Tuesday evening when they lost 2-1 to Vale Rec and with it a Wheway Cup spot.

The grand plan has backfired - big time.

Sylvans are left with nothing more than the Le Vallee Cup and a first-team squad that looks a shadow of the one presided over by Richard Packman before the powers-that-be at Sylvans decided Trim Morgan, lured by the club's top stars, offered a brighter future.

What now for the club, who won nine titles in a row to emulate the great Saints side of the 1960s?

Saints and North seem well placed to dominate Guernsey football in the near future and there are encouraging signs at all our seven senior clubs with the notable exception of Sylvans.

Vale can look forward to a new era under Chris Hamon and the squad will be boosted by a long list of players either returning from their travels or long-term injury.

Danny Bisson is also set to rejoin from Sylvans where Neil Clegg is also rumoured to be beating a hasty departure, back to St Martin's.

Bels have a wonderful reserve of youth talent at their disposal and should the Irish duo of Paul O'Neill and Mick Leigh return for next season, as recently suggested to me by Bels coach Ray Queripel, another club will be on the up and a significant threat.

That leaves possibly Sylvans down among the bottom three with Rovers and Rangers, clubs used to scrapping for their points where the westerners were for the majority of their existence until just over a decade ago when Colin Renouf transformed their humdrum history of making up the numbers.

The signs certainly don't look good for the westerners, although for much of the season when they were desperately looking to make up for a horrendous start, there seemed to be a strong spirit within the camp and one could not help but admire Morgan's tactics.

In the odd game Sylvans looked as good as anyone.

Then, with spring approaching, it all went wrong again.

Instances of only one or two players sitting on the bench and on one occasion no bucket man, indicate a faltering organisation.

Of course, should the Nobes brothers return for a whole season and Morgan stay fit and out of trouble, Sylvans will have real quality in their ranks.

But, and it's a big but, will we see the Nobeses again? Can a leopard change its spots in Morgan's case?

Most of all, Sylvans need to end their internal squabbles and plan for the long-term future, not tomorrow, which has been their trouble in recent times.

There are good people at St Peter's, aghast at the spectacular fall from grace.

They now need to stick together and work for the good of the club, not work for individuals more interested in where their next gong is coming from.

And just because one grand plan failed, that does mean to say another, updated version, will not succeed.

But it will require teamwork and patience.

Nothing would please this correspondent more than to see John and Paul Nobes pulling on the red-and-white shirt again next season, both fit and committed to the cause of making Sylvans a side to be reckoned with again.

But it will need the likes of the Nobeses and other senior players to give something back to the club, stick around and allow the good development work of the likes of Martyn de Garis bear fruit.

Remember, the Sylvans dynasty was borne from home-grown youth; it can happen again.

I wish them luck.