Queripel urges rivals to stick with the juniors

THEY say things go in cycles. Gill Queripel was quick to emphasise that after watching her Nerine A side defeat long-standing rivals MPR Sarnians One 43-13.

With both sides missing several of their stars, there was no doubt who currently has the strength in depth.

Nerine could still boast a line-up with plenty of island experience as well as a host of teenagers who are already involved with the senior Guernsey squad.

Those to have court time against Sarnians included 14-year-old Lyndsey Bougourd, Amy Wright, 15, and Zola Bourgaize, 16.

'Bringing the kids in was a bonus. They did not look out of place at all,' said Queripel.

However, the Nerine coach did spend much of the opening quarter vociferously asking her side to inject some composure into their play as she witnessed pass after pass go astray.

'We were a bit dire,' Queripel said.

'We took a long time to settle down. I think they were all worried about the changes of position rather than just playing the game.'

Despite that, after 15 minutes the champions had established an 11-2 lead.

The introduction of Zoe Batiste at shooter for the remaining three quarters gave Sarnians more potency in attack, but a side missing players such as Andi Pettitt, Sarah Hoskins and Bridget Yabsley was always likely to struggle.

In fairness, though, in Liz Stonebridge Sarnians had arguably the most impressive player on court. It was largely thanks to her efforts that Nerine never scored more than 13 in a quarter.

'We did not flow as we would have liked to, but we stuck at it,' Queripel said.

'When things went well, it looked good. Admittedly, it was patchy.'

She was quick to return to the subject of youngsters though.

'Gemma Loveridge had a very good game at goalkeeper for her first game with the first team and when Lyndsey came on she was quickly onto anything loose.

'It was nice to see Abie Manley-Guilbert playing at goal-attack for Sarnians. She did very well and having Zoe behind her can only be to her benefit.

'From their point of view, they are like us when we first started developing youngsters. It takes time to reap the benefits but they do come through.

'Sarnians have a superb Year 8 team whom Jane Le Tissier has done a lot of work with and that is the future of the club.'