Teens on top as Bulls beat Guildford

Lorne Bickley scored twice in a 3-1 win, earned with help from two teenagers at the back Picture: ROB CURRIE

TWO of Jersey Bulls’ young guns were at the centre of praise from manager Gary Freeman after they helped guide their side to victory over Guildford City.

Goalkeeper Pierce Roche and defender Sammy Sutcliffe, both still teenagers, were thrown into a high-pressure environment at Springfield on Saturday as the Island club looked to bounce back from the disappointment of ‘giving away’ two points at Farnham Town on 2 August.

And they did just that, with St Peter product Roche (18) producing a brave save in each half to keep his new team in the ascendency.

‘In those situations, where it’s point-blank, you don’t have much thinking time so you just have to get down and try and save it as best you can,’ said debutant Roche after the 3-1 triumph.

‘It felt amazing. The fans were amazing, the team was amazing … it’s just a shame about the clean sheet.’

Discussing his plans to challenge first-choice shot-stopper Euan Van Der Vliet, he said: ‘I’m looking forward to the competition. I’ve trained with Euan a bit so I know what he’s about and I’m looking forward to pushing him.

‘I’m loving it so far.’

Freeman, meanwhile, hopes the likes of Roche will keep Van Der Vliet on his toes as the Bulls hunt for promotion to the eighth tier of English football.

‘For an 18-year-old to come in and play the way he did … he’s very confident and he wants to push Euan, which is great,’ said Freeman. ‘Everyone is crying out for someone to challenge Euan. He’s a great goalkeeper but he needs someone to push him and hopefully Pierce can keep improving, because he’s got all the attributes to be a very good goalkeeper.’

He added: ‘Sammy has had to wait a bit to get an opportunity but with Luke Campbell still injured he’s come in and he’s done well. For the age he is, he’s doing great.’

Saturday’s win set the record straight for Freeman’s men after they were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw in their 2022/23 opener – but the boss still wants improvement.

‘We wanted to play at our tempo but Guildford made it hard for us to hit our front players,’ he said.

‘We play at our best at pace. We did keep possession in our own half but at some point you’ve got to go and threaten or you’ll lose the ball in areas where you’ll give away dangerous free-kicks. We’ve got to get better at finding that forward ball, although to be fair most teams haven’t sat in like that against us – they’ve come at us more.

‘We’re not going to hide away from the fact that we want to get promoted. We gave away the game the other night – we let Farnham back in – but teams will work hard against us and we’ve got to match that. Every game is massive.’

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