Holders Rec satisfied with a point on 'a weekend of headaches'

The holders, who are going for a hat-trick of victories in the competition under Mark Romeril, battled to a 1-1 draw with Rovers on Friday night in their opening group-stage fixture when both sides were missing numerous regulars. Rec’s coach was understandably satisfied with the start of their trophy defence.

‘It was a weekend of headaches, really. We had a lot of players missing tonight and hadn’t played for two months, so all in all, I was quite pleased,’ said Romeril, whose side took an early lead through Sam Le Huray before Robbie Legg equalised.

‘Started off really well, the first 15 minutes really good, scored a really good goal and then let Rovers really into it, stopped doing what we were doing.

‘Second half we came on quite strong and there were lots of players there playing out of position, a lot of youngsters finished that game. Based on the play, I think we had the better chances in the second half.

‘But all in all, I’ll take a point after not playing for two months.’

Rec also have Bels and St Martin’s in their group, with the top two progressing to the semi-finals.

‘I think it was it’s pretty clear that the Stranger Cup was the catalyst for the success that we had last year, the first time we won it two years ago. That gave the whole team and the club belief that we could win trophies. Obviously that helped going into last season,’ Romeril said.

‘And I’ve said it many times, the Stranger Cup is very important for Vale Rec. They’ve won it the most times and it’s absolutely important. So we’ll be doing everything we can to get to the semi-final for sure.’

• Match reports in Monday's Guernsey Press.