Guernsey stars in the tries

EIGHT Guernsey players helped Club Hampshire take a giant leap towards qualifying for the semi-finals of the County Championship Shield on Saturday.

They were among 20 senior county debutants involved in the 41-19 bonus-point win in the pool four opener at Portsmouth, which puts Hampshire in a strong position ahead of their final pool match against Sussex this coming weekend.

Guernsey captain Blair Campbell scored the first of Hampshire's seven tries and there were a couple for Jim Regnard too in a match where the hosts opened a 17-0 lead before having their advantage reduced to 22-19 early in the second half.

However, Hampshire's flowing rugby won through in the end as they ran the Middlesex defence ragged in the final half-hour to pull away once more.