Guernsey Press

Pressure on Rovers likely from the ‘off’

THE chase for the FNB Priaulx League title could resume by the end of March – the first week of April at the latest.

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Building up a head of steam: FNB Priaulx League title candidates Sylvans and Rovers are scheduled to meet again on 27 March, but under phase two guidelines the westerners' Oscar Leadbeater, pictured challenging Blair Howitt, cannot train or play with local restrictions on U18s sport. (Picture by Adrian Miller, 29293758)

That is how Guernsey Football League Management are viewing the situation after the latest advice from the GFA and Guernsey Sports Commission.

But there is still plenty of time to complete the entire league and cup programme, said an upbeat GFLM chairman Phil Corbet, who at the same time warns clubs that as soon as phase 3 comes into operation it will be straight into games.

‘There shouldn’t need to be a preparation period because of what phase two allows,’ said Corbet, who praised the body’s fixtures coordinator.

‘Keith Mansell has been working hard on fixtures – he is on top of everything and doing a wonderful job. We should be able to finish all league and cups and we should be able to do that my mid-June, but we have the capacity to go further.’

FNB Priaulx league fixtures are scheduled on the ‘Full Time’ site to resume as early as Saturday week, but most indications are that the resumption date will be around a fortnight later.

If that is the case, then the key Rovers v. Sylvans Priaulx League clash pencilled in for 20 March will be one of those rescheduled for the hectic eight to 10 weeks being eyed to complete the disrupted season.

If football is able to start by the start of April then one of the first eye-catching fixtures will be the Rovers-St Martin’s clash at Port Soif on Easter weekend, Saturday 3 April.

If the go-ahead is a week earlier – the weekend 27-28 March – the likelihood is that both Rovers and Sylvans will face up for vital league points in their first game back. If that is the case, Kevin Gillease’s league leaders from Port Soif can see their title bid either severely damaged or enhanced by the results of those first two games back.

With that in mind, naturally clubs will be keen to get back into training, albeit under strict guidelines. Phase two permits training groups of up to 30 outdoors but the onus is on clubs to have completed relevant risk assessments which should be shared with the GFA before starting. Those sessions cannot include under-18s, even if they have been participating in open age football during the current season, which would hit Sylvans hardest as they have several in their first-team group, most notably first-choice defender Oscar Leadbeater.

When U18s will be permitted to train or play is unclear, while in Jersey it is the youth groups that have been first to resume competitive football.