HURRAY!

‘We came close and it was a good effort, but we’re pretty disappointed not to get the win,’ he said.

‘We had a pretty good opportunity at the end, but if we had scored it might have been a bit unfair on Barnes.

‘We played well for 20 minutes, but they dominated for the other 60.’

Guernsey got off to a great start and after an early Glen Walters try the stand-off went over for a try which he converted for a 10-0 lead.

Barnes, who were strong in the scrum, came back to score two tries themselves and led 15-10 at the break, a lead they extended at the start of the second half.

The Green Machine were not finished though and with Walters converting two Matt Hema tries, we were right back in it.

However, Barnes scored a fourth try with five minutes to go and although we were parked on the hosts line in the dying minutes the try to level the match and perhaps even win it, would not come.

The coach said that he was disappointed in the forwards’ display as a unit.

‘We’ve been competing in there on the threshold for a few weeks, but Barnes was a big wake-up call.

‘Our backs played pretty well and kept us in the game.

‘We will try and fix those areas for the Gravesend game because if we don’t we’ll pay for it.’

The good news is that, just for once, the team came through unscathed, including No. 8 Matt Thomas who was making his first appearance for a while.

‘He was fine and it looks like his hamstring problems are behind him.

‘It took him a while to get going but his second 40 he was flying.

‘To have him and Nick Barton together would be brilliant for us.’

Barton was saved with this weekend’s game at home to Gravesend very much in mind.

The coach does not guarantee he will play, but is hopeful that he will be fit enough.

The losing bonus point gained at Barnes means that we pulled level with Tring and go above them on points difference.

There is clearly a lot of work still to be done to guarantee safety, but the outlook is becoming brighter.