Title is now unlikely for Johnson's men

PROMOTION seems guaranteed for Guernsey - but not a title. Although yet to be confirmed, the Rugby Football Union is set to give the division's top two finishers automatic promotion into London Three South-West, the league that unbeaten Jersey have dominated this season.

'I think the RFU watch the standard of the leagues through the season and there are some sides in Jersey's league who have been heavily beaten. From what I gather, they are sure to be putting two teams up to make it more competitive,' said Guernsey captain Carl Johnson.

The Sarnians and Old Reigatian, whom they lost to last weekend, cannot be caught at the top of the table, which means they should both be promoted without the need for any play-off.

However, the decision could mean that the re-arranged Guernsey v. Old Emanuel game scheduled for Saturday 23 April may not take place because it would have no effect on the promotion issue.

If that turned out to be the case, Guernsey may well have to beat third-place Dorking by a considerable margin tomorrow to ensure they stay ahead of OR on points difference.

The Sarnians' current advantage is 27 points, but with OR expected to defeat Old Amplefordians comfortably in their final game, they will need to be on their game to maintain top spot.

'At this stage it looks unlikely that we will play Old Emanuel, which does not quite seem fair because even if we beat Dorking, we might end up in second having played a game fewer than OR.

'So, to win the title, we really need to thump Dorking and that won't be easy,' Johnson said.

Stuart Lloyd-Jones is set to miss the game through the hand injury he picked up in last weekend's defeat and Guernsey will still be without Dave McGall and Andy Bailey.

There remains a question mark over James Regnard although Johnson reported that he had taken part in training this week.

The first time the two sides met this season, they both went into the game with 100% winning records, but it was Guernsey who came out with theirs intact thanks to a 20-6 victory.

'Dorking were pretty upset about losing to us,' Johnson said.

'They like to play 10-man rugby and have got a really big South African number eight who runs

The skipper revealed that morale in the Sarnian camp was good, despite having just suffered their first loss of the season, and he is confident that his side will bounce back in front of a big home crowd.

'We had a good training session on Tuesday and that was a good sign. We did not play very well last weekend, but in truth we played to the level we had trained at.

'I had been away for a couple of weeks and some of the other guys were missing, too, and we had not had a game for three weeks. You cannot expect to play like a well-drilled side if you haven't been working at it.

'One positive from last week was that our heads did not go down and we kept at it. I was pleased to see that,' said Johnson.