‘Jersey’s model is better’, says Muratti-winning manager Cassidy

During his tenure, Cassidy, whose last game in charge of the Reds was Saturday’s 2-1 victory at Footes Lane, made a habit of calling his side underdogs going into Muratti finals due to the level Guernsey FC play at on the non-league ladder, but the Greens have now gone six years without tasting success.

‘Watching it [on Saturday] I think we are a stronger side, we’ve got better players, we’ve got youth coming through and they’re all top quality young players, so I think the whole model’s better,’ Cassidy said.

‘When you’ve got players playing at a higher level, you expect to have a real challenging game and what I’ve noticed with English football, even when you watch the Bulls play, there’s a lot of long balls which seems to be the English way, but I would never go down that road. For me it’s got to be played the right way, get on the floor, get it into feet, then if we lose playing well then at least we’ve done the right things.

‘Overall, I think we’ve always played the better football, and maybe there’s a bit of kidology in there as well,’ he added with a grin referring to the underdogs tag.

Meanwhile, another Muratti Vase final defeat will have no bearing on the quest for Island Games gold on home soil this summer according to Guernsey manager Tony Vance, who was part of the squad who won gold here in 2003 after losing to Jersey earlier that year.

‘Murattis are one-off games, they’re cup finals, someone turns up on the day and someone doesn’t,’ he said.

‘Island Games and league campaigns are a different kettle of fish, it’s a different challenge altogether.’

Vance, his coaching staff and the players will have a break before ‘a lot of hard work’ begins in preparation for the Games in which they face the Western Isles, Aland and the Isle of Wight on successive days in their group.