Due to a quirk of the fixtures and the upcoming Christmas break, it is also Guernsey’s only Footes Lane outing in an eight-week period and head coach Jordan Reynolds is keen to make the most of the opportunity when they host Barnes, with his side coming off the back of successive away defeats.
‘Results of late have not set a great mood in the squad, but there is a realisation that we have got some players coming back this week and, importantly, we are at home,’ said Reynolds, whose side beat Bury St Edmunds 21-16 on their most recent appearance at Footes Lane.
‘We always elevate our game when we are at home – even against Burys we did not play as we can, but we found a way to fight as a group and came out with a good result.’
‘Playing at home is huge and if you look at the league at the moment, everyone is winning their home games and travelling seems to be a problem for everyone.
‘If you look at the sides who were promoted in the league this season – Oundle are now second and level on points with the leaders while London Welsh have now hit their form – it shows this league is getting stronger and everyone is finding it difficult to win away.
‘The fact that we were away to Welsh, then had a bye, and then we were away again to Canterbury stems into that mindset that it is tough on the road.
‘But there is a lot to be optimistic about with our squad at the moment and it looks like it is going to be fair weather on Saturday, so hopefully we have the ability to go back and play what is part of our Raiders DNA – the players can go out, express themselves and make the most of being at home.’
Reynolds was quick to point out that the exception which proves the rule came at Barnes last week when they lost a remarkable game to London Welsh 7-0 having conceded a converted try in the opening 10 minutes, which turned out to be the only score of the game.
‘Barnes had a strange game with Welsh – it was an odd result. I’m not too sure what happened there,’ he said.
‘Barnes are a really well-drilled side, I say they are the equivalent to Sale Sharks in the Premiership in that they exit everything in their half, work closely around being direct, look for penalties or mistakes from the opposition and then they strike.
‘They are a team who you can seemingly be on top of for 50-60 minutes, but they only need a mistake from you and then they will get on top very quickly.
‘We are up against one of the quality sides of National Two and our games against them have always been really tight over the years.’
Unsurprisingly, Reynolds has delayed naming his match-day squad while he waits on fitness tests of several players, but he has his fingers crossed that he will be able to call upon two out-and-out locks this week.
‘Last week Canterbury were good, they played the conditions really well and, ultimately, I personally probably did not set our plans well – we moved away from what we are good at – and then we had some problems around our line-out not functioning properly because we did not have any regular second-rowers available.
‘In general, though, I was pretty happy with the effort our guys put in and if we get some things right which we got wrong last week with that same effort, then we can take Barnes on this weekend.
‘Martinas Dromantas will be back having been ill last week, Lewis [Hillier] will also be back this week and there is the potential for Brad Webb to be back, too. He came through training on Tuesday, so there is an opportunity he might be back involved.
‘It would be great to have a couple of second-rowers available. We have had guys like Liam Welch filling in as best they can, but that is not their natural position, so it makes it hard for us without regular second-rowers.’
Guernsey against Barnes kicks off at 2pm tomorrow and is the second part of a Footes Lane double-header with Vikings taking on Bournemouth Seconds at noon.
You need to be logged in to comment.