GUERNSEY hockey fans have been denied the chance to watch their HA Trophy heroes in action tomorrow because Richmond have refused to travel to the island.
This despite the carrot of having all their travel expenses paid for.
Guernsey won the national cup for the first time in their history after they defeated Old Loughtonians 4-3 in a tense final in Essex last April.
They were then blessed with a home tie against Richmond in the first round of this season’s competition.
Going by the rules, Guernsey are obliged to pay for their opponents’ flying costs. But the rules also state that a team can refuse to travel which Richmond have done.
‘It’s hugely disappointing,’ said Guernsey captain Damian Wallen (pictured).
‘For whatever reason, they didn’t want to come. They wanted to play at theirs, but now we’re playing on a sand based [Astroturf pitch] in Southampton.’
If a team does refuse to travel, Guernsey can choose a pitch in the UK to play on.
The Greens have decided to have the match on the University of Southampton’s ground which is next door to the city’s airport.
To make matters worse Guernsey are now without the services of drag-flick specialist Ben Allberry and Andy Whalley, who led them to victory in the knockout cup.
They both left over the summer to play national league in the UK.
Wallen admitted that going all the way this season will be an immense challenge with out them.
‘It’s going to be hard but it was hard last season,’ he said.
‘We’ll miss the goal scoring of Ben and Andy’s creativity and experience but that said hopefully we’ve still got a really strong squad.’
To offset the loss of Allberry and Whalley, Guernsey do get to welcome back former captain and midfielder Mark Babbe after he returned to the island from living in Australia for a number of years.
Promising juniors Tom Still and Will Dovey make the grade as does Investec Colombians’ Adam Cox and Clubhouse Casuals’ new arrival Steve Bowyer.
Wallen admitted that they could not have tougher opponents than Richmond in the competition.
The south west London side are currently top of Hampshire-Surrey Regional Division One, which is the highest standard of league that is able to enter the cup.
‘We’ve been stitched up by the draw,’ said Wallen.
‘We’ve got the hardest draw that we can get but we had a good training session last night and everyone is confident about Sunday.’
Article posted on 31st October, 2009 - 2.30pm
One Article Comment
That absoluteley stinks…fair enough if they were expected to pay for their travel but if its a free trip then they have no valid reason to refuse. I hope you slaughter them!
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