Undeserving greens lose for a third time

Guernsey 11, Old Reigatian 19

THE fear is becoming a reality. Guernsey captain Andy Bailey said leading up to this match that the losers could be in for a long, hard season. That is exactly what his men are facing up to.

While there were glimmers of hope and the odd piece of quality rugby against Old Reigatian at Foote's Lane on Saturday, the hosts failed in their attempts to put together an 80-minute performance and got what they deserved.

Old Reigatian have become something of a bogey side for the Sarnians - the Surrey outfit are unbeaten in three games against them - and another typically efficient display earned them the two league points.

Guernsey assistant coach Colin McLatchie admitted that: 'the result tells the story. We did not deserve anything more than that'.

Old Reigatian full-back Ben Brearley missed his first attempt at goal in the third minute, but he soon found his range and Guernsey were 6-0 down after a quarter-of-an-hour.

For the visitors, fly-half James Espin, who impressed on his previous appearance at Foote's Lane, was pulling the strings with his long, accurate kicking and subtlety with ball in hand, while his teammates knew their roles and carried them out in a no-nonsense fashion.

Guernsey, on the other hand, were disjointed and could not put a move of note together until the 27th minute. It was rewarded with three points from the boot of Louw Brand.

However, Old Reigatian hit back and Brearley added two further penalties late in the half to establish a 12-3 lead at the break.

The initial Guernsey response was excellent and within 40 seconds of the restart, Bailey had touched down for the first try.

It was created by a sensational 30-yard break by Divan van den Heever, who had GH Smit in support before James Regnard took it on. He offloaded to the skipper, who dived over in the corner.

Suddenly there was a buzz in the air and five minutes later Brand closed the deficit to a single point after fly-half van den Heever was hit by a high tackle.

But the positive vibe did not last long and that was mainly due to the catalyst - van den Heever - leaving the action with a knee injury.

From that point Old Reigatian regained a foothold in the game and matched the hosts around the park.

Brand did miss the opportunity to grab the lead as his 67th-minute penalty sailed just wide, but there was an inevitability about the manner in which the game ended.

From a catch and drive line-out 15 yards out, the visitors' patience was rewarded as flanker Gary Baker broke from the pack for an unopposed run

to the line. Brearley's fine conversion just rubbed salt into the wounds.

'We are bitterly disappointed. We had a game plan but we did not play to it,' said McLatchie.

'In the first half we just did not turn up at all. The defence was appalling again, despite having worked on it for the last two weeks and the decisions we took were all the wrong ones.

'Instead of doing basic rugby, getting a solid base and looking to spread the ball wide, we decided to take them on up front and played into their hands.

'We did turn up for the first 10-15 minutes of the second half, but we were not clinical enough and allowed them back into the game.'

Looking at the positives, he was pleased with the South African half-back combination of Divan Crouse and van den Heever. 'There were some great breaks from nine and 10, especially considering that it was their first game together, but when the runs ended, they found themselves isolated.

'In all honesty, I think some of guys are living on the glory of what has happened over the last two years and they cannot afford to do that. This is all about hard graft and percentages.

'Team morale is pretty low now and we have got a tough game next week at Weybridge. It will be difficult to get them motivated for that.'

Old Reigatian captain David O'Hanlon was delighted that his side's game plan came up trumps once again.

'We were probably able to build it up more in the first half. They did not get in our half and the pressure just told so we had a nine-point lead at half-time,' he said.

'Then in the second half, their fly-half and number eight showed what Guernsey can do - if you give them an inch, they will take a mile. But we were just able to come back and we did what we had done in the first half.

'The thing with coming to Guernsey is because of the trip over it feels like a bigger occasion. Most away games for us are just in the car down the A3, but when we come over here, everyone is up for it more.'