LISTEN: Saints eyeing up a strong second half to the season

Goals from Alex Roussel, George Mason and Ollie Smith were enough for Jason Leaman’s men to see off Sylvans 3-0 at Blanche Pierre Lane on Saturday afternoon, and the victory means that they go level on points with Jose Alvarez’s North.

Superior goal difference means the chocolate-and-blues stay above the in-form Saints in the table, but both sides now sit just five points adrift of the league leaders with a game in hand to play.

‘Saturday was a big game for us and another important three points – the lads deserved that and it is definitely a good way to finish this calendar year so credit to all the squad and everyone involved,’ said the St Martin’s coach, who has taken 16 points from the last 18 available in the division.

‘At times we played some nice football and as the game went on we seemed to get stronger.

‘I was pleased with the performances by everyone and am happy with the clean sheet.

‘It was also great getting several of our U18s on during the game and being able to give 16-year-old Alex Ward a debut start, and he ended up assisting the first goal.

‘That win sets us up nicely now for the second half of the season from a league perspective – we know that we still have a lot of work to do, however I am grateful to the lads for how they have all been applying themselves since I came on board.’

Elsewhere in the Priaulx league this weekend, a last-minute Glenn Le Tissier goal earned Vale Rec a point away at Belgrave Wanderers in a 3-3 draw.

Mark Romeril’s side were a goal to the good on two separate occasions before the break, but a second-half resurgence from the hosts saw them go 3-2 up prior to Le Tissier’s late effort.

The result means that Rec stay fourth in the Priaulx League table going into the Christmas break, one point above their most recent opponents.

‘We are disappointed with the result because it was a game we felt that we should have won,’ said Romeril.

‘We gave away three really poor goals and these sorts of mistakes have been slowly creeping into us more and more in the last few games.

‘The main positive for us is that we managed to score goals again and could have had a few more, but the overall feeling in the group is that if you concede goals like the ones we conceded then you are not going to win many games of football.

‘We have slipped in the last few weeks but I think that coincides with our injuries – in the first seven or so games we were able to field a really strong squad and since then have missed big players in pretty much every match.

‘Unfortunately we do not quite have the squad depth to be able to cope with that, but hopefully when we return in the new year we’ll be at full strength once again.’

Chris Le Friec’s Bels side go into the break sitting fifth in the Priaulx table, after taking home seven points from a possible nine against Rovers, Alderney and Vale Rec.

‘It was a bit of a crazy match – overall I would say that a draw is probably the fairest result, but anything could have happened,’ said Le Friec.

‘In the first half we were really poor, and at half-time we spoke about needing to up our levels and we came out of the blocks very well after the restart.

‘After going 3-2 up we could have scored a few more, but even without more goals I still thought we could see the game out.

‘Rec did dominate at the end and eventually got their goal, and I think both sides will be pretty happy that they have not lost such an important game.

‘Everyone played really well for us on the day – Jack Welsh was excellent in the half-spaces and offers us something a little bit different when he’s available.

‘Brad Foss has ended the calendar year really well, scoring five times in his last three, and I could not fault the performances of our defence or Reece [Le Brun] in goal either.’