Acey set to feature for U18s in Stranger Cup final

Angus Mackay’s side saw off Sylvans in their semi-final with a slender 1-0 victory and became the only team to beat Upton winners St Martin’s so far this campaign earlier in the competition with a 4-2 win in the group stage.

North advanced to the knockout stages of the Stranger via the ‘best-placed runners-up’ spot, as Rovers beat them 3-0 back in February to finish top of Group A.

Alvarez’s men took revenge on Rovers in the semis with a 2-1 win to book their place in this evening’s final.

The Priaulx side were unbeaten in 12 going into their fixture with Alderney on Saturday, but they finished their league season with a shock defeat at Northfield, as the visitors ran out as 3-2 winners.

‘I am expecting a difficult game, obviously quite a few of the lads in the squad play Priaulx football for North so I need to have some discussions with them to get a bit more detail,’ said Mackay.

‘They have a lot of really good players and they have shown how strong they can be in other competitions already this season.

‘We have not been able to train for a little while as I had to turn my attention to the U21s, and since that game there has been so many fixtures so we have not got together since that semi-final.

‘We will get together before the fixture and train, and we have already had a decent number of sessions and games this season already so we will be more than ready to play against North.’

The U18 representative side will be boosted by the inclusion of Ben Acey in their squad for the first time this evening, as the Guernsey FC regular has only appeared for the age-group team in their Junior Muratti so far this year.

‘We have 18 who are fit and available at the moment, which we will have to trim down to 16 before the game,’ said the head coach.

‘There are not many changes to what we have used before, the squad should be largely similar to our teams in the Muratti and the earlier rounds of the Stranger.

‘I cannot speak for the players, but from our point of view as coaches it would be absolutely brilliant if we could win it.

‘The U18s have been in the Stranger quite a few times and I think this is the first time we have got to the final which is a nice achievement in itself.

‘It would be nice for us as management to finish things on a positive note as results have not gone the way we wanted them to against Jersey, so it would be great to end it with a great performance and result.’

The Stranger Cup final takes place at Blanche Pierre Lane this evening, with a kick-off time of 7.30pm.

At the same time, newly-crowned CI champions St Martin’s take on Rovers at the Track in the second Guernsey FA Cup semi-final with North awaiting the winners.