Rovers opener pleases Saints coach Meakin
LEON MEAKIN wants his side to make history and become the first St Martin’s team to win back-to-back Priaulx Leagues since the early 1970s.
Saints are set to start their title defence at home to Rovers on 21 August in what looks certain to be a thrilling curtain-raiser after Kevin Gillease’s side ran Meakin’s men so close last campaign.
Blanche Pierre Lane will play host to the following two fixtures for St Martin’s, too, as Manzur and Sylvans will visit in September before Saints’ first away day at the Corbet Field in early October.
Speaking about the recently revealed schedule, Meakin said: ‘I am delighted that we get to play Rovers in the first game as we know we’ll be in for a tough battle from the off.
‘We’ll have to start the season at the level we finished the league last year if we want to have a chance at retaining our title,’ he added.
They will have to do it without a few pivotal players, though, as Guernsey FC look set to return to action next campaign, which will mean the loss of Jamie Dodd to Vance’s Green Lions, as well as player-of-the-year Ben Coulter and talented winger Joe Blackham, who will both leave the island ahead of the upcoming season.
‘We have to be fluid with our squad,’ he said, as he accepted some of his players could follow Dodd’s lead and challenge themselves at Isthmian level throughout the season, but the boss remained calm as he stated that the club will continue training on specific days to avoid clashing with GFC’s sessions in order to allow players to attend both.
The Saints coach added that his squad seemed to be settled and further outgoings seem unlikely after another successful season.
‘We won’t close the door on any returning players either,’ Meakin also pointed out, meaning there is the potential for players to come back to BPL over the summer, like forwards Ally Venosa and Danny Hale have done in recent years, although either way, the coaching staff appear calm and collected ahead of pre-season which is set to commence next week.
The two-time Priaulx winning coach also spoke about the possibility of playing fixtures against opposition from Jersey in the 2021-22 campaign.
Following last year’s successes he was keen to emphasise ‘how much we’ve improved since there was last inter-insular competition’, before adding that he was looking forward to ‘testing ourselves against the best teams in the Channel Islands’ with a side that he feels is more ready to compete against the typically strong Caesarean outfits.
