Banerjee's absence will be keenly felt

OPTIMISTS are staring down the barrel of another lean season.

The club that in modern times has been regarded as the team to beat, along with Cobo, had something of a bleak 2007. And things do not look too much healthier this year.

'It's going to be a tricky season for us,' said Optimists captain and former Guernsey skipper Andy Biggins. 'We've probably not got the balanced side we've had in the last few seasons. We're now struggling a bit for numbers.

'It's more of a case of getting players out on a regular basis. I'd like to have a nucleus of 14 players that you can bring out but it never works out like that for us. We always use about 25 players, which is never ideal.'