JERSEY BULLS prepare for their home game with Balham tomorrow with uncertainty over who will be their goalkeeper looming large. Their options are limited.
Pierce Roche is suspended following his dismissal last week on Bulls’ goalless draw with Redhill, while number-one choice Euan Van Der Vliet is still in long-term recovery from a thigh injury. Jersey Wanderers goalkeeper Robbie Scott would be the automatic choice but he is also doubtful with a broken nose. Meanwhile, most other goalkeepers in the Island have a commitment to club fixtures in JFA Premiership.
“We’ve got a decision to make,” said manager Gary Freeman. “It’s a big game to chuck someone in who’s not been around us and it’s too much of a risk [for Euan] who is still rehabilitating from his quad tear.”
Meanwhile, Freeman paid tribute to Balham as a team that sticks to its principles, on and off the pitch, and compares them favourably to Bulls.
Both the South London club and Bulls are the only clubs in the Premier Division South of the Combined Counties League who do not pay their players but, despite their paltry budget, consistently perform well each season and are currently in sixth place. But, Freeman says, Balham also like to play a progressive style of football which should provide for an entertaining match.
“They probably play the best football in our league and have got a clear identity of how they want play out from the back,” added the coach.
“They don’t have a big budget but they do have a great youth system. A lot of lads have been there from the start and they stick together. One or two of their best players have gotten a move to a step 3 club but ended up going back because I think they enjoy the environment that they create. So it’s a very good club and it will be a difficult game. They press very aggressively from the back but that gives us an opportunity to press them too.
“They are one of those teams who just get on with it, get the ball down and move it nice and quickly, which we also want to do, so hopefully it makes it a decent spectacle for everyone and a decent game of football to watch.”
Freeman admits that his Bulls have got off to a bit of a slow start following the break over the festive season. They haven’t won a game in normal time since 9 December and the visit of Abbey Rangers, while last week was their third blank sheet at home in the league this season. It will be Bulls’ fourth consecutive home match and fans will be hoping they will have plenty to cheer about this time round.
“We’ve got to impose ourselves and not be reactive,” continued Freeman. “We’ve got to try to win the ball in high areas, be aggressive, and get runners and bodies forward and take the game to them.”
The action is set to get underway from Springfield Stadium at 3pm.
