JERSEY BULLS’ game against Frimley Green was expected to be a fixture with larger ramifications than it presently holds.
Defeat on Saturday to Badshot Lea has dropped the Island side to fifth in Combined Counties Premier South and Gary Freeman has named just 14 players in his squad for tonight’s game, including Lorne Bickley – who was withdrawn through injury three days ago.
Sol Solomon is once again sidelined, after aggravating a quadriceps injury that caused him to miss time earlier this year.
Loughborough University student Ben Le Rougetel, who made his debut for the Bulls last weekend, has again been named in the squad while under-23s captain Joe Kilshaw is staying in Jersey to play at Springfield, despite a cup semi-final for the development squad at Sheerwater.
Following a poor run of form, Freeman’s side have been forced to shelve promotion dreams until next season.
However, a deeper dive into the club would reveal a season of growth through tribulations.
In what has been the first complete season for the young Caesarean club, there has been plenty of highs and a fair share of lows.
Captain James Quérée chose to reflect after the home draw against leaders at the time Beckenham Town, to highlight that he and his team are still learning what club football is like.
They were a side who had breezed through opponents since the clubs inception, displaying a style of football that way easy on the eye and a joy to watch.
They captivated an entire Island, with a dream run in the FA Cup – falling to Chertsey Town, just one win away from the dizzying heights of the main draw.
What came next was the first slump that the club had ever experienced.
A perfect storm of Springfield’s closure, coupled with injuries to first-team regulars, saw the side drop out of the promotion conversation very quickly.
The mature captain, however, chose to take a different approach to the recent shortfalls.
He realised that there is more to the team that short term successes and gains.
The Bulls are a long-term project and the whole club are experiencing something new, while venturing into new territory.
The difficulties of travelling to away fixtures with a depleted squad took its toll on Freeman’s side as key players were relied on with regularity for much of the season.
There is no surprise that the side have picked up key injuries down the stretch of a gruelling season, as the ability to rotate the team away from home was near impossible.
The second half of the season has been a baptism of fire for the young side, but what could be seen as a downfall has presented opportunity for the future of the club.
U23s players Sammy Sutcliffe, Jack Lumsden, Rai Dos Santos and Robbie Scott have all appeared for the first team this season.
Freeman has been keen to integrate Paul Renton’s players into his squad and many of them have impressed, as well as giving fans an insight into the future of the club.
Jersey Bulls squad to face Frimley Green: Euan Van Der Vliet, Ben Le Rougetel, James Quérée, Jonny Le Quesne, Jack Cannon, Sammy Sutcliffe, Joe Kilshaw, Kamen Nafkha, Adam Trotter, Olly Rivers, Francis Lekimamati, Lorne Bickley, Kieran Lester, Jake Prince.
