JERSEY BULLS captain James Quérée believes his side are showing increasing versatility having overcome obstinate opposition and weather in Camberley.
On a pitch with more standing water and mud than grass, the Islanders left it late to secure a vital win on Saturday. Lorne Bickley’s 95th-minute winner keeps them in touch with Beckenham Town at the top of Combined Counties Premier Division South.
And Quérée acknowledged that while his men were not at their best, they showed plenty of resilience at Krooner Park.
‘We’re really pleased,’ he said. ‘We knew we’d have to grind it out. It’s a “smash and grab” and they’re the points that accumulate and keep us towards that top end of the table,’ he said.
‘Credit to Gary [Freeman] and the management team, who came in at half time and asked us to break the habits we’re used to in trying to play. They asked us to be more direct and, even though it doesn’t suit us, it’s something we’ll have to learn and adapt to because it’ll lead to results like this.
‘We were just grateful for the game to be on, to be honest. Credit to the ground staff for getting the pitch to a position you could get something on and we back ourselves to show character in these difficult conditions. We know we aren’t going to have a carpet [3G surface] every week.’
Quérée singled out the efforts of his midfield colleagues in helping the Bulls to manage a quagmire of a surface, and an opposition who were more than happy to engage in a bitty contest.
‘Ruben [Mendes] and Adam [Trotter] were excellent,’ he said. ‘We said before the game that we were going to need them to do both sides and they did. Adam has been away for a few weeks with injury but we joke often that this is his type of game and he’s still driving us forward and creating overlaps late on.
‘When you can keep running in weather like that, it inspires people and that was what got us the reward. Lorne [Bickley] has been brilliant for us since he’s come in. He’s a traditional number nine but has developed so much more to his game.’
Bulls, Beckenham and Walton & Hersham look set for a three-horse race for just two potential promotion spots – although they Islanders are only just past the half-way point of the season.
‘Typically in Jersey we play 16 league games across a whole league programme and we now have 15 to play by the end of April, all which will be massive occasions,’ Quérée added. ‘That means we’ll need to draw on every member of our group to get us to where we want to be.
‘I think what this experience [Saturday’s win] will do is only strengthen the qualities you maybe can’t see physically, like leadership. We have really high standards among the squad and that means people hold one another to account.
‘Ruben and Adam did that today with their performance, but you look at lads like Luke Campbell and Karl Hinds and they are constantly directing things.’
