Away again - coach gutted

GUERNSEY'S reward for a comprehensive win in the second round of the Harrod UK Men's Trophy is another trip to the south of England. A 6-0 demolition of Old Mid Whitgiftians has seen the islanders drawn against Burnt Ash of Bexley, Kent, in the third round.

Island coach Nick Mahy said he knew nothing of the opposition but was disappointed at another away day on Sunday 4 February.

'I'm gutted it's not at home. You always want to get a home draw with a good crowd and home advantage. We don't get many big games over here.'

Burnt Ash are currently 10th in the Kent and Sussex Regional League.

After receiving a bye in the first round, they crushed Old de Ferrians 9-0 in the second.

'I've never heard of them,' said Mahy. 'We just want to get on with it. We don't worry about them, we let them worry about us.'

Guernsey manager Andy Graham said that the easy victory over Old Mid Whitgiftians had been due to an excellent performance by his young side.

'There are things we can get better on but you can't complain with 6-0. It was a really fast pitch, which suited our style of play. It was a good all-round performance.'

The greens took the lead five minutes from half-time after a good move down the right flank that involved captain Andy Whalley, Tim Creasey, Andy Alford and debutant Kit Wrightson.

TJ Ozanne finished it off with a cracking strike.

The Colombians forward completed a hat-trick in the second half as the floodgates opened. Strike partner Dave Morris added two more and 15-year-old midfielder Jonny Clark also found the back of the net.

'It was excellent, a very good performance,' said Mahy.

'It's always difficult for the first game of the season and they took their time to work together. But it went well.

'They worked very hard off the ball. I thought it was going to be a lot closer than that.

'When we went 3-0 up, they stopped playing. They knew the writing was on the wall and they took their foot off the pedal.'