Ruined Priaulx is a laughable suggestion
NOW here's something.
NOW here's something.
When the clocks go back tonight and October becomes November on Tuesday we will be no closer to knowing who will be the 107th winners of the Priaulx League Cup.
Will it be St Martin's under new No. 1 John Peace, Ross Cameron's North or Glyn Smith's Bels?
Or, it couldn't possibly be, surely, Shaun Staples' Sylvans?
Nobody can deny that the title race is anything less than intriguing.
Domestic football is far from ruined, a suggestion being banded about by some doom and gloom merchants, that would be laughable if it were not so annoying.
And because it will continue to be affected by Guernsey FC selection issues and which of the best players stay fit, then nobody can confidently predict which of the challengers outside of Sylvans, (who have only one Green Lion on their books in Rhys Jordan and who has yet to play a game for them) will be worst affected by the Combined Counties League commitments.
Undoubtedly, the standard has inevitably dropped, but close competition is what everyone who follows the domestic game wants to see and not the 10-0 drubbings which, unfortunately, Rangers suffered at Bels' hands last weekend. That, we must all hope, was a one-off this season.
Rangers are better than that, but were missing virtually an entire first team against Bels.
It's been suggested on the various forums that Rangers' squad was short due to disillusionment with the setting up of GFC.
But, as John Robilliard, Rangers' acting coach last weekend in the absence of Paul Ockleford confirmed, that is far from the truth. 'We had 14 senior players injured,' said Robilliard, who added that Rangers' request to have the game postponed had been turned down by Bels.
'GFC hasn't been a factor,' said John. 'We were always going to lose Jacques and Ross.
'But apart from the injuries, we have lost a lot of senior players who have simply retired or gone elsewhere.'
Assuming Rangers will not be so diminished again, the league is such this time around that nobody can confidently predict what will happen.
Rovers and Vale Rec will be no pushovers. And with Sylvans enjoying something of a renaissance, as is the entire club it seems, there is a good deal to look forward to this campaign.
Suddenly, because of GFC, opportunities to play in the island's top league are cropping up all over the place and, at places like St Peter's, the squad is buoyant and chipper at the thought of once again being able to challenge even the best.
That can only be a good thing, no?
Longer term, the Guernsey FC factor may even reduce the number of pot-hunters which have become increasingly prevalent in recent years.
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ONE event that nearly sneaked under the radar this week is the world under-25 indoor bowls championships in Llanelli.
Guernsey have four representatives and, on the evidence of the opening day, they are a strong quartet.
Indoor bowls has struggled for many years to refresh its membership, but that it has a future in terms of producing real talent to follow in the footsteps of Alison Merrien, Matt Le Ber and the like – players who are at home on the international scene – is very much down to the brilliant development work of Mavis Richards and the Bichard family who run the Tigers Bowling Club.
Mavis, the matriarch of this bowling clan, is gradually handing over the reins to her grandchildren, Kris and Lianna, but it has not stunted the growth of the club who share a building with another success story – table tennis.
The Guernsey Table Tennis Association have long seen the value of testing the best on the national and international stage and it can only be good for their sport that the cream of the juniors are now competing on the British Junior League scene.
