ð— ð—®ð˜ð˜ ð—Ÿð—¼ð—®ð—¿ð—¶ð—»ð—´ ð—¶ð˜€ ð—»ð—²ð˜ƒð—²ð—¿ ð—¯ð—¼ð—¿ð—¶ð—»ð—´, ð—¶ð—³ ð˜ð—µð—² ð—¼ð—¹ð—± ð—°ð—¹ð˜‚ð—¯ ð—°ð—µð—®ð—»ð˜ð˜€ ð—®ð—¿ð—² ð—®ð—»ð˜†ð˜ð—µð—¶ð—»ð—´ ð˜ð—¼ ð—´ð—¼ ð—¯ð˜†. ð—ªð—² ð˜€ð—½ð—¼ð—¸ð—² ð˜„ð—¶ð˜ð—µ ð— ð—®ð˜ð˜ð˜† ð—¼ð—» ð˜ð—µð—² ð˜„ð—®ð˜† ð˜ð—¼ ð—¹ð—®ð˜€ð˜ ð˜„ð—²ð—²ð—¸’𘀠ð—®ð˜„ð—®ð˜† ð—´ð—®ð—ºð—² ð˜„ð—¶ð˜ð—µ ð—–ð—µð—¶ð—½ð˜€ð˜ð—²ð—®ð—±.
It does seem slightly surreal to be back in action again after such a long COVID-enforced break. The majority of us in the squad have been playing Priaulx football for the last couple of years, and then almost at the drop of a hat we’re finding ourselves back playing at this level again. It is strange, but it’s a welcome return I think for everyone. We’ve missed it so much, and it was nice to get back to winning ways early on and have a home start. Now here we are doing all the travelling side of it as well! We all remember it well from previous seasons, but it’s been a long time since then, so it’s an odd feeling to be honest! This is definitely a welcome experience for everyone, and I think the break has probably not been a bad thing for some of us, older heads, myself included.
The first game was undeniably an all-round great team performance. There were a couple of people who I think had exceptional games, but I think everyone had a good game, and I think it’s fair to say we won the game as a team. This is the way we’re going to have to approach things if we want to pick points up, especially in the early stages where we’re not at the same level as the other teams who we’re playing in terms of fitness and overall readiness. It was probably fortunate I would say, and with no disrespect to the team we played, but having a first home game against Sutton, who I think are towards the bottom end of the table and are struggling for points at the moment a little bit, it probably wasn’t the worst thing in the world for us. You don’t want that to turn into complacency though, or immediately feeling like we’re automatically going to return and set the world on fire, because actually it is just one game when all is said and done: we did well but we’ve a long way to go. Today [Editor’s note: Chipstead] it’s going to be a very different test, a very different game; it always is away from home, so we’re going to have to be a team again today and then see what happens.
Ben Le Tocq came on and made his debut against Sutton Common Rovers, and I guess one of the biggest compliments we can give him is he stepped into a position we’re used to seeing someone like Jamie Dodd in and acquitted himself well. He did absolutely nothing wrong from a defensive perspective, and with his diagonal deliveries he was really important in launching some of our attacks which led to goals. It’s something we had pinpointed as being a potential weapon against Sutton, those long diagonals from any of the defenders. It had been highlighted in training, and Ben had obviously taken that on board and put that into practice in the game, which then showed that he’d listened to the technical advice and acted upon it. He’s also a strong player physically and he’s decent on the ball, so he did brilliantly. I’ve only played with him twice – the warm-up Saints game and that game – and I’ve been playing just in front of him on the left-hand side. I can say that he’s a good player to talk to on the pitch, and strong, so it’s been a positive experience for me both times.
Doddie, Ross, Strawbs, Kez – players like these are probably the most experienced heads around now, and I’ve also been involved since the start. I’d say of all of us probably that we are the players that we were, albeit that we’ve undoubtedly adapted our game in many ways during that journey. It’s so important though that we’ve had these new players coming in now, providing a fresh level of quality that perhaps hasn’t come through as much before we went into lockdown, and arguably for a couple of years prior to that. We do seem to have had an influx of new faces, and – equally welcome – some old faces returning to give it another go – your Tom Martins, your Kyle Smiths. They actually look like completely different players now! They look hungry and more experienced, like they belong at this level. I know Ross ended up as Man of the Match, but for me Kyle scooped that accolade; I thought he was brilliant! I’d say it looks like a good squad. I think every good squad needs older heads but it’s a young man’s game, football, at the end of the day, so I think we’ve got a good balance.
As one of the senior players now, I do take energy and joy from seeing the younger ones perform, and it really can re-energise the older squad members. As a player you remember being that youngster wanting to come on and show what you can do. I mentioned Kyle earlier, and for me he did a good job the other week. That hold- up play has invariably been left to Ross to do, almost by himself, for a long time now. Since Dom left we’ve had a lot of attacking talents, but with the way that Guernsey is there’s a lot of diminutive players – not necessarily big in stature but big in terms of their different skills and attributes. Kyle has obviously got qualities in that way, but in addition he’s a big strong lad, so he’s someone that finally is able to do that Dom Heaume role which Ross was having to fill pretty much alone. There were so many instances where Kyle alleviated the pressure on us, where previously in those situations that might not have happened. It’s difficult to put a price on that kind of stuff but it’s really important and that’s in my opinion a lot of the reason why we did well against Sutton. In situations where we were recovering – out of possession and maybe clearing our lines for example – Kyle was able to turn that around make something of it, creating chances from what otherwise potentially might have amounted to nothing.
We’ve got Ben Acey coming through too as well as a couple of other younger lads, and they all look like they belong, which is great. Although, as I’d said, I was involved from a young age myself, there is so much more information for the newer generation of young players to take on board, because of the level of detail that Tony goes into, the video analysis too, and all the preparation that goes into every game. If you’re willing to absorb that as a young player coming in now and put it into action, then it’s a great environment to come into.
With Tony, Steve, Fal and Stewy and everyone else involved from the coaching perspective, it’s all come on in leaps and bounds. They’re all obviously great coaches themselves, but it must be said that in those early stages there was probably a fair difference in quality between us as players and the teams that we were playing against the first few seasons. We’ve hit a level now though, which means that you need that extra edge to be able to get on up and out of a league like this, because it’s so competitive. Hats off to Tony and the other coaches, they’ve done everything that they possibly can to give us the best information for every game to enable us to go through and get three points. I think it’s fair to say that we probably didn’t operate that way in the early stages, as we didn’t really have to initially, but I think everyone learns throughout this kind of process, including the coaches, and they’ve put in so much work to give us the best possible chance every game. It’s something that the new players like Acey and the other guys coming in get to benefit from now, which is only going to help them progress more effectively and improve as players. It’s an incredible opportunity for any talented young local footballer.
I’m approaching the other end of my career now, and I am aware of a couple of milestones that I’m keeping in mind. I’m only around 5 or 6 games away from 300 appearances, for example, as someone was reminding me earlier. Obviously, I want to finish GFC with as many appearances under my belt as I can, and whether or not that will mean I’ll top the appearances leader board when I finish, I don’t know, but I’ll certainly do my best. I’ve also set myself an individual goalscoring target of 100 goals before I finish, which I think is achievable, and so those are the two stats that I’ve really been looking at and focusing on. A tally of almost 300 games is a lot, and I can honestly say I’ve truly enjoyed it. It’s gone surprisingly quickly to be fair, but it will mean quite a lot when that triple-century day comes round. Whether it falls on a home or an away game, 300 is a pretty decent landmark, and I think only Doddie has reached that so far in the club’s history.
We’re playing a lot of new teams in the league this year. While I’m just the kind of guy that doesn’t really think about my surroundings – I just know my own game and try and stick to that – I must say it is good to see new places and new grounds, so I’m sure there’ll be a number of pitches this season that will be decent to play on. Above all, what I’m looking forward to now that we’re back in action is doing my utmost best, and hopefully creating some more good memories along the way.
