NOT finishing in the medals next week could be considered a failure for our men’s football team.

Sam Cochrane, Ben Coulter, Ross Allen, Glyn Dyer, Matt Warren, Luke Winch, Joby Bourgaize, Darren Martin, Alex Le Prevost, Simon Geall, Tom Le Tissier, Tom Strawbridge, Simon Tostevin, Tony Vance, Paul Page and Colin Fallaize. (Picture by Andrew Le Poidevin, 0792005)

The Greens certainly have a good track record at the Island Games.

They won the gold medal in the Isle of Man in 2001 and they followed this up with another gold at the 2003 Guernsey Games.

In Shetland two years later they had to make do with silver as they came undone against a very strong host team in the final.

After missing Rhodes in 2007 for what can only be described as political reasons, they are now back in the competition and all eyes will be on them.

However, head coach Tony Vance, is naturally talking it all down.

‘I don’t want to put too much pressure on us, but we are there to win it,’ he said.

‘Things can happen that we’ve got no control over but ultimately our goal is to win the gold medal. We want to do as well as we can.

‘Our priority is winning the gold. We’ve got a good record in recent times and we’ve got one of the better records out of all the teams.’

Guernsey were pulled out of the bag in Group B with Ynys Mon, Froya and defending champions Gibraltar.

‘We’ve got a tough group but that’s not a bad thing, we’ll know what we’ll need to do to get to the final,’ said Vance.

‘All the groups are tough. We’ve got a tough group and we know that.’

Guernsey face Gibraltar in their opening match at 12 noon, Sunday.

The Gibraltans won gold in 2007 after defeating hosts Rhodes 4-0 in the final.

‘Gibraltar are going to be tough, they are the reigning gold medallists but they’ll be fearful of us and our record,’ said Vance.

‘We’re not going to go on to the pitch with fear. Hopefully things will go to plan.’

The Sarnians then meet Ynys Mon the next day followed by the tiny Norwegian island of Froya on Wednesday.

‘Ynys Mon will be tough and the thing with them is that you don’t know what the team is going to turn up with,’ said Vance.

‘They are a bit of an unknown quantity. We know that they will be tough if they’ve got the right players there.

‘Froya on paper and on experience, is definitely a match we’re planning to win, but again until we see them we don’t know what they’ll bring.

‘It’s good that we start with the two toughest games. We’ve got to hit the ground running. Right from the off we’ll know we’re in a competition.’

If Guernsey finish top of Group B, they will meet the winners of Group C in the semi-final. This group contains two old foes of theirs, Jersey and Rhodes.

Vance is not contemplating playing either of the two yet.

‘Our first priority is to get out of the group. At the moment we’re not planning further than Gibraltar.’

Men’s squad:
Ross Allen, Simon Geall, Chris Tardif, Joby Bourgaize, Dom Heaume, Paul Page, Simon Tostevin, Scott Bradford, Alex Le Prevost, Dave Rihoy, Matt Warren, Sam Cochrane, Tom Le Tissier, Neil Sarahs, Jason Winch, Ben Coulter, Darren Martin, Tom Strawbridge, Craig Young, Glyn Dyer.

Schedule:
Sunday 28 June
12 noon (EEST) v. Gibraltar
Monday 29 June
4pm v. Ynys Mon
Tuesday 30 June
7pm v. Froya
Thursday
4pm – semi finals
Friday
9.30pm – final

Medal hopes: The team and the Guernsey public will be disappointed if they do not come back with at least bronze.
If they get the better of  Gibraltar in their first match, gold could beckon.

Women’s squad:
Helen Arnold, Rebecca Hart, Julie Palmer, Lisa Sylvester, Stacey Baudains, Catherine Hennessy, Vicki Rang, Rochelle Vaudin, Zola Bourgaize, Eleanor Holden, Anna Robert, Sophie Warren, Kayleigh Marquis, Candice Simon, Katie Watson, Danielle Gervaise-Brazier, Sara Millard.

Fixtures:
Sunday 28 June
7pm v. Hitra
Monday 29 June
7pm v. Isle of Wight
Wednesday 1 July
7pm v. Isle of Man
Thursday 2 July
Noon v. Western Isles
Friday 3 July
6.30pm – semi-finals
Saturday 4 July
4pm – final

Medal hopes: Don’t know about medals, but they will surely do better than the last time.