Guernsey aim to keep adding to points tally

Guernsey might not improve on their highest league position of ninth from a year ago, but they have already accrued more points in a 26-game National Two South campaign than they have before – and that is with three games still to play, starting with tomorrow’s trip to Bury St Edmunds.

Last week’s entertaining 53-41 victory over Old Albanians at Footes Lane took Guernsey up to 10th on 59 points, three more than last season’s tally, and that is something that pleases their director of rugby.

‘We’ve won more games than last year already, that’s for sure,’ said Jordan Reynolds

‘It’s really difficult to gauge because of how tight this league is at the moment.

‘Around January last year we were sitting ninth and we never really threatened to move, or strayed from from that position, to the end of the season and it was difficult to be motivated towards the end.

‘But this time around, post-Christmas we won four games in a row, all with bonus points, so that’s 20 points total, and yet we stayed 11th.

‘We have 11 wins so far, it would be good to pick up one more, two would be great, but we have certainly done well points-wise this season.’

Bury St Edmunds are sixth in the table, but are currently on a run of just one win from their last nine games, albeit several of their defeats have come with a losing bonus point for finishing within a converted try of the opposition.

‘Burys tend to run from deep and they are very good at retaining possession for long periods, but it can be a bit of a weakness playing that way, too, as their recent results indicate,’ Reynolds said.

‘The last couple of times we have played them away have been towards the end of the season and we have rested guys heading into the Siam – last year I think we made 11 changes and something like nine the season before – but this time we have just one change from the starting team from last week.’

That change sees Carter Hackett start in the second row in place of Lewis Hillier, who is resting a minor ankle problem. Charlie Simmonds is fit again and is among the replacements.

‘Hopefully it will be a dry day and we can get back to some of the attacking rugby we played against OAs,’ Reynolds said.

Raiders team

Steventon, Burger, Currie, Hackett, Webb, Creber, Rice, Culverhouse, Rutledge, Teasdale, Smith, N McGann, C McGann, Boyland, Roberts. Replacements: Dunn, Ceillam, Creed, Simmonds, K Creber.