Sarnians struggle to keep up with the pace

Wiltshire U-18s 4, Guernsey U-18s 1

GUERNSEY opened their South and West County Championships campaign with a defeat at the hands of Wiltshire. Going into the match at Melksham Town FC on Saturday, the physically imposing Wiltshire were unbeaten in their first two games and it was easy to see why as they near enough ran the island side off the park.

'I honestly thought we were tired in the second half and that's what lost it for us,' said Guernsey coach Paul Ockleford.

'We made three changes and you don't normally do that. Good effort from them all but it was a bit quick for some of them.

'Their second goal - the free kick - was dubious and third was offside. We were tired and that was that.

'It was disappointing.'

Captain Alex Le Prevost agreed with his coach's assessment of the opposition.

'I'm definitely disappointed,' said the Northerner.

'To be honest, they weren't really that good. We didn't perform.

'We started well, then they got a goal and our heads went down. But then we got one back and we felt confident.

'Then they got one early in the second and our heads went down again. They were very one-dimensional - let's get the ball to the top as soon as we can.

'Player for player they weren't better than us. We just weren't on our game today.'

Guernsey had come close to taking the lead after 20 minutes when Robbie Titterington picked out his strike partner, Jon Loaring, with a deft cross into the box but Loaring failed to get his head on to it.

It turned out to be a quiet day for the pair as the compact pitch and soft surface did not assist knocking the ball over the defence to use Titterington's electric pace.

The home side had the majority of the possession and their inevitable goal came about just before 30 minutes of play when their forward Nathan Hallett turned in a pass from his captain, Mick Perrett.

But the Sarnians hit back five minutes later when Le Prevost got on the end of a deep free kick from Mark Ramsden with a delightful header at the back post that defied Wiltshire's Bristol Rovers keeper Sam Armstrong.

However, the black-and-golds regained the advantage shortly into the second half with a cracking effort from Luke Smith.

The left back sweetly struck the ball on the half-volley from an over-hit free kick into the area that seared past Andrew Rigden in goal for Guernsey.

The island team were struggling to threaten their opponents' goal as the Wiltshire centre midfield partnership of Harry Etheridge and David Thompson ran the show.

Their team's third goal arrived on the hour mark when Guernsey's centre backs Tom Strawbridge and Jamie Tolcher were caught out of position and substitute striker Peter Tye made no mistake when one on one with Rigden.

The Vale Rec shot stopper was one of the few Guernsey players to come away with any credit and he pulled off a couple of top quality saves in the last 10 minutes that would have made the score line even harsher on his team.

But there was nothing he could do as Tye delivered the killer blow for the Sarnians three minutes from time from another one-on-one situation.

'I think we should have been out of sight by half-time,' said Wiltshire coach Mel Gingell.

'Second half we changed it around and we ripped them apart. It sets us up nicely and we are now in the driving seat.'