Guernsey move four points clear at top

Dorking 6, Guernsey 20

GUERNSEY stormed further ahead in the Powergen London Four South-West table on Saturday, with a hard-fought 20-6 away defeat of Dorking. The Sarnians' victory over their closest rivals puts them four points clear at the top, with eight wins from eight matches. Guernsey also have a massively superior points difference.

Old Reigatian moved level on points with Dorking after their defeat of Old Amplefordians.

It was a tough game for the greens, played in poor conditions with snow on the ground.

But the commitment of Rob Box's men was again evident and Andy Bailey's first-half try and the consistent accuracy of Werner Stroh's boot game them the points.

'It was a very good win: they were a really tough side,' said Box.

'Before we went away, I had heard that they had a good back row. But I did not think that they could be as good as ours.

'Matt Morgan, Jim Regnard and Ben Mahy are playing better than anyone I've seen this season and yesterday again they were just superb.

'For the first 20min., Dorking just could not compete with us. Our back row dominated.'

However, Box added that Morgan said after the game that a back row could only operate if the front five gave them the opportunity, and on Saturday the set play was 'fantastic'.

'We dominated the scrum, with loads of good, clean ball. The control was tremendous because the conditions were terrible, with snow lying on the pitch.

'Dorking were a good team, but they never looked like scoring a try, while I was sure that we could score whenever we got near their 22.'

Bailey's try and Stroh's kicking kept Guernsey ahead, though Box said that the match was possibly closer than the scoreline suggested.

'Although it was 20-6, there was not that much in it. It was a tight one - the weather dictated that. The most impressive thing for us was our defence in the conditions.'

Guernsey came through the match with no injuries, though unavailability for the next few matches will test the depth of the Guernsey squad. Box was encouraged with one player's performance and was also heartened to hear of another's display for the seconds.

'Stuart Lloyd-Jones at fullback was excellent and I'm sure he can step up into the number 10 position. And I've heard that Lee Whatman had a great game for the seconds at number nine, so that is another plus.'

Despite sitting pretty at the top of the table, coach Box was not getting too carried away just yet.

'I couldn't be more happy with the result, but there's a long way to go.

'I said before the season started that I would be pleased if we could finish in the top four and many things could still happen.

'As long as we go into the Christmas break with a four-point then we have got to be reasonably optimistic.'

However, although the table is a heartening one for a Sarnian, he added a note of caution.

'The toughest game will be away against Petersfield. We are going to have a whole load of players missing for that, so if we can stay unbeaten, that will be a big result for us.'