AFTER returning to winning ways against Balham on Saturday, Jersey Bulls are back in action tonight with an away trip to Camberley Town.
Despite it not quite being a vintage Bulls performance under Elliot Powell this season, the 3-0 scoreline was deserved and particularly crucial, as league leaders Redhill suffered a surprise defeat to Alton.
Tonight, captain James Queree and his men have a golden opportunity to close the gap on the top two, against a Camberley Town side currently struggling down towards the relegation zone of the Combined Counties Premier Division South.
Sitting in 17th place, Camberley have suffered a torrid run of form, having not won in their last nine league matches, including a disappointing 1-0 defeat at home to Sheerwater on Saturday.
The Bulls are yet to face Camberley this season, with the home clash at Springfield Stadium set for 15 March.
After a frustrating 0-0 draw at home to Cobham, Saturday was a welcome result for the Bulls with Karl Hinds’ first half wonder strike the highlight.
Powell has named an unchanged squad from the win over Balham, which includes new signing Paul McKay, who made his Bulls debut off the bench in midfield.
Speaking on tonight’s game, skipper Queree said: “Saturday was a good win for us, but certainly wasn’t our best performance of the season.
“I thought we defended well and we certainly created the chances, it was just the bits in between which we needed to tighten up on.
“At this stage of the season, however, it is most important that we secure the three points each time we play, and the clean sheet on top on Saturday was a good bonus, especially with that world-class save from Euan [Van Der Vliet] at the end.
“Yes, Redhill dropped points and that has certainly worked in our favour, but we have said it time and again this season, we just want concentrate on ourselves.
“There will be plenty more twists and turns in the final 11 games this season, especially with a tricky away game against Camberley tonight. They have nothing to lose against us and will most definitely be up for the fight.
“They are scrapping for their own points at the other end of the table and we know they will be far from a pushover.
“We know we are going to have to dig deep and when we get chances, we are ruthless in our execution. Defensively, we need to remain solid and organised to prevent any uphill battles.”
This game tonight is the Bulls first midweek game for a while, but Queree believes this is no issue for his experienced side.
“The boys know the score with mid-week games now, we all have our routines and we know exactly what to expect and what is expected of us to perform at our best.
“Hopefully it’ll be like a business trip, get in there, get the three points and get back home and recovered for another massive game on Saturday against Knaphill.
“The squad is becoming trickier for the management to pick each week with boys coming back from injury and the two new lads joining us [McKay and Kurtis Guthrie]. But these are the headaches we want as a group at this stage of the season.
“We want to be firing on all cylinders and having that competition for spots is a positive thing to drive us all on to want to be in that starting line-up.
“But we all have that same goal as a group and hopefully we can take another big step towards that goal of promotion tonight.
“There’s 11 games to go for us this season, but all we can worry about for now is tonight and Camberley Town.”
Action from Krooner Park tonight is scheduled for a 7.45pm kick-off.
Bulls squad to face Camberley Town: Adam Trotter, Euan Van Der Vliet, Fraser Barlow, Harry Curtis, James Queree (c), Jay Giles, Joe Kilshaw, Jonny Le Quesne, Karl Hinds, Lorne Bickley, Luke Campbell, Luke Watson, Miguel Carvalho, Paul McKay, Rai Dos Santos, Toby Ritzema.
