West hails a ‘brilliant’ effort from his team

The notion of the Sarnians winning the big Bucktrout Trophy showdown by six rubbers, with a clean sweep of the four doubles triumphs to finish, would have been almost inconceivable before the two-year Covid break.

But that was exactly what transpired at the Guernsey Tennis Club on Sunday as a strong home squad triumphed 9-3 against a relatively green Jersey side, who featured five new caps.

Delighted captain Rob West praised the efforts of his whole team, not least the three debuting players.

‘It’s brilliant and I’m really happy with the team,’ he said.

‘Everyone turned up and did the job, really, and it was a nice scoreline at the end.

‘I don’t think both islands ever really have both of their strongest teams out at the same time.

‘It just depends what happens on the day, and I think we were confident when we knew who we were going to be facing, but you’ve still got to get the job done.’

At the same time, it was the end of an era for Jersey tennis.

But non-playing captain Andy Evans highlighted the experience gained by newcomers and was gracious in defeat.

‘I think for us and for tennis on both islands, it can only be positive,’ he said.

‘When you’re on a winning streak, sometimes you need a bit of a kick up the backside to say, “That’s the way it is at the moment and we need to do a little bit better”.

‘I’m disappointed and I think if you’re not disappointed, there’s something wrong with you, but you’ve got to respect that Guernsey were just too good for us.’

• More in Tuesday's Guernsey Press.