We have never played Guernsey before, certainly to my uncertain knowledge. However we have been to the Channel Islands to play rugby though. In September 1953, there is a black and white picture of the team, I seem to remember Keith Peskett featuring, boarding a flight from Hurn Airport, as we used to know it in those days, bound for Jersey. That was in a Bristol 170 Freighter which used to carry cars as well as passengers of course. More recently we had a pre-season friendly in August 2009. However none of this has anything to do with Guernsey and our meeting this coming Saturday (28 Apr 2018) which came about as a result of both us finishing second in our respective divisions. In the case of Guernsey they had a chance of actually winning the division on the very last day of the regular season but their rivals Barnes did the same as Guernsey did and got a ‘five pointer’ which maintained the one point difference between the two sides and secured the top slot. Guernsey secured home advantage by virtue of a better playing record than us, two factors that make the task facing Bournemouth pretty daunting. Nonetheless it still represents a great chance for Bournemouth to get back to National 2 South after a four-season absence. We’ve just got to get the logistics right and get a team over there.
Doug Warren, President.
