Life in the old league yet, at least on paper

A PULSE still beats within the Priaulx League. The 2007-8 champions may not be a match for the modern greats - St Martin's of the late 60s, Vale Rec of the mid-70s and Sylvans on the early 90s - but at least the league is encouragingly competitive and would have been more so but for the hand of fate that has INJURIES inked across the knuckles.

It would be a foolish man to bet against Belgraves now. They may even romp to only their fifth championship in their long history and will do so with the best and deepest collection of players around.

Bels are a decent side, although I harbour serious question marks about their defence but, crucially, manager Micky Ogier seems to have instilled a high level of commitment.

That he is able to owes much to the range of choices he has available to him from midfield forward.

It's just a shame for the neutral that their six rivals cannot get their strongest XIs out on the park week in, week out.

A scoot down the various players' lists shows that there remains healthy competition there, even though the football may not be as vibrant and entertaining as it once was.

Vale Rec, no mugs and injury-stricken, lie sixth and Rangers, with a very handy front two of Jonny Veron and Ross Allen, fifth. Mac Gallienne's men are very hard to beat on their own confined patch.

Sylvans are possibly the best example of how teams can look so impressive on paper, but amid the reality of university calls and injuries are a dream team and not much more.

Their potential starting XI is startlingly good.

Paul de Garis, the best this campaign in goal, and a back four of Sam Matthews, Michael Wilson, Naro Zimmerman, Tom Strawbridge.

In midfield, Steve Brehaut, Matt Warren and Tom Duff with Jan Renouf spearheading the attack flanked by Danny Watts and Kris Moherndl.

On the bench Piers Ockleford, Ben Duff, Tony Vance and Eduardo Santana.

Third-placed North have been undone only by a wholly unpredictable and unfortunate series of injuries.

To lose two top strikers, AJ Saunders and Simon Tostevin, and two key midfielders, Gavin Le Page and Alex Le Prevost, all to serious knee injuries in the same calendar year, is cruel, cruel luck.

They may have the best crop of under-18s around but they need a few more old heads around. Other than the admirable old warhorse, Stuart Polson, they don't have them.

The inadequacies at St Martin's, who will surely finish second, are largely a lack of cover and, crucially, an out-and-out goalscorer of class.

Had they the Rangers first-choice frontmen linking up with Dominic Heaume, - Guernsey's Ballack - then they would take some stopping.

But they don't enjoy such a luxury and until they solve that firepower problem, it is difficult to see the black-and-white ribbons reappearing on the old cup.

n IT'S 48 hours since we published Chris Schofield's defence of his, as head of the GFA's youth development, record in the job.

I guess there will still be many who will point to the same old chestnuts - not enough games, no soccer school, unrealistic age restrictions etc - but Schofield made several valid points, most particularly in his insistence that there remains too much emphasis on winning and that coached friendlies to aid technical development should be the way forward at the younger levels.

It's a very British thing to want to win at all costs. We've seen it with the England manager's job and Fabio Capello brought in to patch the many holes in the bucket that is the English player production line, while at the same time the FA drags its heels on the building of a national Centre of Excellence.

Like the UK, Guernsey football still could do more to encourage technical development and using coached games to bolster a thin fixture list is not such a bad thing.

There are those, former Vale Rec boss Ray Blondel among them who say there is too much competitive football too early in Guernsey and by the time youngsters are legally able to drink many have had enough of beating or losing to the same opposition and drop out of the game.

It would be interesting to discover what is the percentage time junior footballers spend playing competitively as opposed to organised practice compared to that of the top athlete, swimmer or cyclist.

Honing skills is vital.

I have vivid memories of the Le Tissier boys, spending hours upon hours playing football in the cramped, walled playground at Les Genats and I dare say there were many more hours spent by them on the wide green swards at nearby La Mare de Carteret.

Their touch, ability to dribble and shoot were learned long before they were 11.

Nowadays, I doubt very many youngsters spend anywhere near the same levels of practice time of past generations and it shows in youth football where the weakest link in the broad development game is the woeful lack of skilful forward players.

Players are bigger, faster and more tactically aware, but skills in the final third are worryingly low. Schofield deserves praise for answering his critics, but it may take much more to both convince the diehards and get them to work with him for the betterment of the game.