Champion fires a warning to rivals

Saturday 16th January 2010, 2:30PM GMT.

Champagne moment for Bels as they celebrate winning last season’s FA Cup. (0754559)

BELS boss Ian Champion has warned rival clubs that the best is yet to come from his side after they were drawn to play Athletics in the semi-finals of the Clydesdale Bank International Guernsey FA Cup.

In their opening Division One match at the end of September, Bels enjoyed a 5-1 win over Rangers.

Now 10 matches in, they are top of the table and firm favourites to retain the FA Cup as the highest placed Division One side in the last four of the competition.

But, in a rare interview, Champion revealed that he believes that they have not played anywhere near as well as they did against Rangers in that game more than three months ago.

‘We’ve been winning games, but we’ve not been playing that well and that’s the truth,’ he said.

‘The key to winning anything in football is to win games when you’re not playing well. We’re training well and it’s not due to a lack of effort by the boys.

‘We’re playing well in fits and starts but we’ve not been putting it together for the full 90 minutes. The best is definitely to come.’

Bels’s FA Cup semi-final with Tics will take place on Wednesday 10 March at a yet-to-be-decided neutral venue.