They take a squad of 15 to face South West League Division I side Bridport at the Hamworthy Stadium in Bournemouth.
Manager Paul Durrans is on holiday so Paul Kelly and former Muratti man Martin Cassidy step in for a game which they hope will kick-start a young team which currently lies mid table in the Coca Cola Combination into fulfilling their potential.
Said Cassidy: ‘It’s a great opportunity for our lads to compete at a decent level of amateur football.
‘I believe that St Paul’s are the future of football in Jersey – our average age is under 21.
But it’s about time the players stopped living on their potential and started proving themselves.
‘If we do well it will give us a great platform to finish the season strongly and attract a few more experienced players for next season.
‘We’ve heard that all the so-called better teams in Bridport’s league have been eliminated and we’re just hoping we can reproduce the form we showed when we scored five and beat Bournemouth Sport in the last round – or when we beat Trinity a couple of weeks ago.’ St Paul’s are at full strength apart from junior Island skipper Luke Watson.
‘We’d love to have him there but he’s been suspended for the past few weeks, and isn’t quite ready,’ said Cassidy.
He is also hoping for big performances from Craig Leitch – scorer of four of the Saints’ goals in the last round – and Glen Durrans up front and Dave Watson in midfield.
‘The whole team’s slipped a bit since Trinity,’ says Cassidy.
But for the first time since the Trinity match Stuart André and Lee Bradshaw – who is at university in the UK – will play together at the heart of the St Paul’s defence.
‘They are probably the best defensive combination in Jersey,’ added Cassidy.
‘Everybody will need to be at the top of their game, but we hope they will just relax and enjoy the experience and, hopefully, we’ll come back with a result.’ Squad: Danny Evans, Paul Kelly, Lee Bradshaw, Stuart André (capt), Shaun Irvine, Dave Watson, Jamie Allan, Danny Hughes, Lucas Parker, Steve Jones, Craig Leitch, Glen Durrans, J-P Martin, Jay Cassidy, Robbie Whittaker or Carl Hayes.
St Paul’s are sponsored by G de Z.
