Home sweet home in search of a win

THE season starts here was Andy Bailey's message ahead of Guernsey's first home game in London Three South-West tomorrow.

The Sarnian captain has seen his first two games in charge end in defeat as the green-and-whites find their feet after promotion, but now he wants to clinch the first league points of the season at fortress Foote's Lane.

'But we knew taking another step up was going to be hard and we are looking back at those games as sort of pre-season friendlies where we have learned a few things and have now drawn a line underneath it.

'We are confident, going into this game, that we can now get a win under the belt.'

A quirk in the fixtures means that Guernsey meet Old Reigatian in their first home fixture, the side that was promoted along with the Sarnians last year.

Old Reigatian won London Four South-West and took three points off Guernsey along the way.

'They are the only team we are really going to know about in this league,' said Bailey.

'From last year's experience, they have got a very good set of forwards, although I do not know whether they have had any player turnover.

'They are in very much the same boat as us because they have lost their first two games.

'It is imperative, therefore, for us to get something from the game because whoever loses could be in for a long, hard season.'

There is mixed news on the team front, with James Regnard back after missing the defeat at Old Wimbledonians, but the Thomas brothers are unavailable.

Newcomer Simon Sharrott will start in the front row, along with club stalwart Jason Mroch at hooker and Gareth Nicolle.

Meanwhile, there will be an all-Springbok midfield with Divan Crouse joined by Divan van den Heever in the half-backs and GH Smit and Louw Brand the centre partnership.

The back three of Bailey, Paul Livesey and Jim Elliott bring more of a local flavour to the line-up.

The captain reported that Guernsey had been working hard in training to eradicate the mistakes from the previous match, particularly in defence and the set pieces.

He hopes the team's endeavours will reap handsome dividends tomorrow.

'Our recent success has been built on getting a platform to work from and producing decent ball, but our set pieces - the scrum and the line-out - have not really functioned properly yet this season. We have been working to get that right,' he said.

'The strides we have made in the last couple of years are incredible, but the sides we are playing now are well drilled and we know that if we fall asleep at any time, we will pay the penalty. You have got to be fully focused for the entire 80 minutes.'

Coaches Rob Box and Colin McLatchie have certainly been drilling that ethic into their troops and as the latter admitted: 'Boxy and I would take a 3-0 win. It is all about hard graft and playing the percentages now.'THE season starts here was Andy Bailey's message ahead of Guernsey's first home game in London Three South-West tomorrow.

The Sarnian captain has seen his first two games in charge end in defeat as the green-and-whites find their feet after promotion, but now he wants to clinch the first league points of the season at fortress Foote's Lane.

'But we knew taking another step up was going to be hard and we are looking back at those games as sort of pre-season friendlies where we have learned a few things and have now drawn a line underneath it.

'We are confident, going into this game, that we can now get a win under the belt.'

A quirk in the fixtures means that Guernsey meet Old Reigatian in their first home fixture, the side that was promoted along with the Sarnians last year.

Old Reigatian won London Four South-West and took three points off Guernsey along the way.

'They are the only team we are really going to know about in this league,' said Bailey.

'From last year's experience, they have got a very good set of forwards, although I do not know whether they have had any player turnover.

'They are in very much the same boat as us because they have lost their first two games.

'It is imperative, therefore, for us to get something from the game because whoever loses could be in for a long, hard season.'

There is mixed news on the team front, with James Regnard back after missing the defeat at Old Wimbledonians, but the Thomas brothers are unavailable.

Newcomer Simon Sharrott will start in the front row, along with club stalwart Jason Mroch at hooker and Gareth Nicolle.

Meanwhile, there will be an all-Springbok midfield with Divan Crouse joined by Divan van den Heever in the half-backs and GH Smit and Louw Brand the centre partnership.

The back three of Bailey, Paul Livesey and Jim Elliott bring more of a local flavour to the line-up.

The captain reported that Guernsey had been working hard in training to eradicate the mistakes from the previous match, particularly in defence and the set pieces.

He hopes the team's endeavours will reap handsome dividends tomorrow.

'Our recent success has been built on getting a platform to work from and producing decent ball, but our set pieces - the scrum and the line-out - have not really functioned properly yet this season. We have been working to get that right,' he said.

'The strides we have made in the last couple of years are incredible, but the sides we are playing now are well drilled and we know that if we fall asleep at any time, we will pay the penalty. You have got to be fully focused for the entire 80 minutes.'

Coaches Rob Box and Colin McLatchie have certainly been drilling that ethic into their troops and as the latter admitted: 'Boxy and I would take a 3-0 win. It is all about hard graft and playing the percentages now.'

Kick-off is at 3pm.