This Is Guernsey

SCOTT BRADFORD is in line for his first Muratti start after escaping a lengthy ban.

The Bels star (pictured) appeared before a GFA disciplinary hearing last evening in an attempt to wriggle out of a suspension that would have ruled him out of the big game.

The surprise was not just that his appeal was upheld but that the charges against him were dismissed. North’s Craig Young was not so lucky in his appeal against a sending off in a Jackson game and will miss the match on 5 May.

Bradford missed last year’s final through his own ill-discipline and he was expected to miss this one too after being red-carded for protests made to referee Brent Blondel in the Fletcher Sports FA Cup semi-final against Rocquaine United.

‘It will be a big blow for us if we lose him,’  said island boss Steve Ogier before the hearing.

Young’s suspension means Ogier now has to let down only one of his provisional 20-man Muratti squad and is left with 19 as he heads into two games against tough student opposition in the coming days.

Tomorrow evening at Blanche Pierre Lane Guernsey face an England Universities XI and on Saturday the Muratti squad play Warwick University in the Midlands.

Ogier is grateful for two challenging tests so close to the Jersey game and accepts that injuries are part-and-parcel of playing so late in the build-up to the biggest match in CI football.

‘It’s good for us to have a decent test on Wednesday and it will be the same at the weekend,’ he said. ‘It’s what we need in a build-up to the Muratti.’

England Universities are expected to be particularly strong and their squad list shows several players attached to non-league clubs well advanced in the national league ladder.

Guernsey have just one injury doubt for the game with Dave Rihoy having collected an ankle knock in Bels’ Upton Park Cup triumph on Saturday.

He was due to be assessed by physio Mike Thomas at training last night.