TONY VANCE is a very perceptive fellow. His judgment on all things [domestic] football are as shrewd as they come.

So when he says this domestic campaign is pretty rubbish – well he hinted strongly that it was – and that our top players are back in cruise mode, then we should all listen.

Vance is correct on both issues.

The dominance of St Martin’s may cheer everyone at Blanche Pierre Lane, but Colin Fallaize’s squad is simply too strong for the rest which, in the main, have been pretty ordinary this year.

It is remarkable how transformations can be so quick.

While last season was one of the best in living memory with the arrival of Athletics booting everyone up a level and produced a hotly contested championship top, middle and bottom, this season, which has seen the demise of the Tics and no National League System Cup to whet the representative juices, has been a crushing disappointment.

A campaign which started late because of the Uefa Regions Cup has stuttered along ingloriously, failing to capture the imagination.

Just as worrying, but additionally encouraging for Jersey, several of the island’s leading players have either struggled with injury or, in the odd case, have simply lost focus and seen their standards drop after the efforts of the summer.

Guernsey FC and a weekly diet of testing football is desperately needed and with that project in mind it heartens me that Vance has been able to select such a good 25-man Muratti and Island Games training squad, despite the absence of injured men such as Dave Rihoy and Craig Young, as well as the unavailable Tom Le Tissier.

All at the Corbet Field will be delighted to see the under-rated Ross Elliott included.

It is a well-merited selection and, while he has hardly kicked a ball in anger for months due to injury, the arrival of the highly-versatile Angus Mackay is a big boost for Vance.

The former Oxford youth captain can cover a number of positions and, mark my word, will be a serious threat to the establishment if he can remain fit.

Quite why Darren Martin is not included, although he continues to turnout regularly for North these days, is a bit of a mystery to me.

I can only assume that the island management team do not consider his problem foot won’t stand up to the rigours of Muratti and Games preparation.

And why, some might say, no Marc McGrath and Luke Winch, possibly the best two finishers in local football after Allen?

One suspects that Vance cannot trust either, McGrath tactically, and Winch on temperament grounds.

As fine a predator he is, McGrath has never given me the impression of a player built to play in the rough and tumble of Murattis.

Winch probably passes that test, but after an encouraging start to the season seems to have lost his way a little, got himself thrown out of the island under-19 squad and, one hears, disappointed his own St Martin’s coach in recent times.

He clearly has some growing up to do in terms of attitude to the game and the team picture, but his talent warrants a place at the top domestic level and I sincerely hope he realises that ploughing a selfish furrow is not the way forward.

GOOD luck Glyn Smith as he takes up the reins at Bels for the rest of the season.

I read this week that Smith, like his predecessor Ian Champion, is too nice a guy to succeed with the current ills down the Track way.

I do not buy that one.

From my experience of playing with and against the former Muratti man, Smith is a tough customer and won’t be messed with.

With a fair run on the injury front, if he brings to the Bels training pitch, dressing room and dugout the same tough qualities which made him such a decent playing career and very successful business one, Belgraves should improve over the coming weeks.

THIS column has been somewhat critical of youth football in recent times, but that has largely been down to the island system as opposed to the work of the individual clubs.

This week’s HalfTIME highlighted some pleasing developments at both Port Soif and Northfield.

Pleasing because it seems that both are intent on pushing the boundaries of their young talent.

Given the quality that his club have at their disposal it can only be good that North’s William Woodford used seven under-16s in an under-18s league match.

On top of that the highly-promising River Marsh and Ryan Lamb are getting senior outings, and so they should.

Down at Port Soif, Rovers deserve praise for maximisation in a different way.

By entering two sides at two age-groups, they are giving football to twice the number of youngsters.

It is a policy that all clubs should look to embrace if they possess sufficient numbers.

After all, clubs have been dumping the less talented for far too long.

THE longest unbeaten record in inter-island sport shows no sign of coming to an end.

We are talking men’s cross-country running and last Sunday’s 2011 clash showed Guernsey to be as dominant as ever.

With Steve Dawes leading the way, GIAAC romped to a 19th straight team win, green-and-white vests filling eight of the top 10 spots and 10 of the top dozen.

It is not a fluke that Sarnian distance running is so healthy.

The success is down to talent, certainly, but what goes unseen is the coaching, guidance and professional training schedules of Lee Merrien and Alan Rowe at the end of a conveyor belt which starts with Bob Carre’s colts.

If every island sport had coaches with their insight, personal experience and knowledge, poor old Jersey might lose heart.

Between them and Dale Garland over the more explosive events, GIAAC have been pushing more and more athletes to new heights, among them Dawes and Louise Perrio, county champions both and real stars in their own right now.

Their dedication is top class and you have to feel sorry for Dawes who, come the conclusion of the 2011 NatWest Island Games in the Isle of Wight, will arguably be the best Guernsey sportsman to compete at the Games and never feel the satisfying warmth of standing on top of the podium, gold medal hanging from hisneck.

The poor man faces running against Merrien, a mentor, over 10,000 metres and the half-marathon in the first week of July, and while Dawes is closing the gap between the two, not to the extent that he will get the better over the Great Britain international and, let’s hope, 2012 Olympian.

I would lay money on Dawes, who Merrien gives a free run at all the domestic titles, will get that elusive gold medal at some stage, but it may not be for another two years in Bermuda.

When it does arrive it will be well deserved.‘Quote FrankGoth Cn BT 15pt’