‘Let’s end the year on top’

Going into the final round of London & South-East Premier fixtures in 2017, Guernsey lead the way by a single point having overtaken postponement-hit Hertford last weekend with their hard-fought 19-13 win over Tring at Footes Lane.

Jordan Reynolds’ men finish their calendar year with a trip to Sutton & Epsom tomorrow and the coach has emphasised to his troops the importance of mental attitude if they want to maintain their current position.

‘It is important to get the win because we want to stay on top for as long as possible and keep the pressure on the teams chasing us,’ he said.

‘We have managed to be in first place twice before this season but lost it within a couple of weeks both times by losing at Dorking and then at Guildford.

‘We have talked about not handling being at the top well enough and we have got to make sure we have the right mindset.

‘This week we have talked particularly about reproducing our home performances on the road, which means going away and winning well.

‘We are looking for individuals to be a little bit more professional in their approach to away games and learn from the mistakes we have made those previous couple of times to remain there [at the top].’

Raiders will be without scrum-half Malcolm Barnes, who is heading home to New Zealand for Christmas with his partner, team manager Megan Jones.

Luke Sayer is also unavailable this week, while Cameron Craine is the prop being rested as Reynolds makes the most of his side’s strength in that position.

Raiders team

Steventon, Ceillam, L. Batiste, Hillier, Merrien, Hill, Le Cocq, Horrocks, K. Brown, Thomas, Armstrong, Campbell, N. Brown, Jones, Whitehead. Replacements: Currie, Martin, Holland.

• More in Friday's Guernsey Press.