Guernsey need to be Lion-tamers
RAIDERS will have to tame the Lions on Saturday if they are to make the step up to National Two.
Bournemouth Rugby Club, nicknamed the Lions, come to Footes Lane for the biggest game in Guernsey’s club history as the runners-up from London & South-East Premier host the South West Premier runners-up in the promotion play-off, which will kick off at 1.45pm.
Entry is free.
The visitors won 17 and drew one of their 26 league games this season in finishing behind Ding Crusaders in a highly competitive league that had a much smaller points spread from top to bottom in the table than the London & South-East Premier.
Bournemouth went down to a narrow 20-17 defeat away to 12th-placed Newbury Blues in their final game of the campaign on Saturday, despite naming a strong team in preparation for the play-off.
‘We will field the strongest team we possibly can. That way we will go into the play-off with the best possible chance of having the guys established in their moulds,’ Bournemouth head coach Will Crocker told the Daily Echo beforehand.
Raiders go into the play-off off the back of their 54-10 win over Towcestrians last weekend, but coach Jordan Reynolds insisted after that match that his side will have to improve if they are to secure promotion this week.
‘There was a lot of frustration with the players, but as I said to them in the warm-up, our mind was not on the job and I could tell it from the beginning,’ said Reynolds. ‘Hopefully it is next week because we are going to need all the help we can get.’
Some early team news is that Ned Brown is unavailable for Raiders and fellow centre Blair Campbell is a doubt having picked up an injury against Towcestrians.
