The push for promotion from London One South has become a four horse race. While Guernsey extended their fine run of form to nine consecutive victories with a win at Haywards Heath on Saturday, league leaders Chichester passed a tough test of their title credentials with a 17-5 success away to Sidcup.

That result has pushed Sidcup out of the promotion hunt as they are now 11 points off fourth-placed Basingstoke, but just seven points separate the top four, which includes Old Elthamians.

Coach Jordan Reynolds admitted that although his side enjoyed a convincing victory at the weekend, Guernsey were ’not that great’. ‘It was one of those games where it was hard to get any real structure’ he said. ‘It became quite a scrappy game, but we still scored seven good tries and there were a lot of positives to take out of it – I thought Tom Ceillam and Jim Regnard had amazing games in the back row.’

Before the match there was good news for Guernsey as Luke Sayer passed his late fitness test and he got the ball rolling with the first of five first half tries. Captain Blair Campbell, Simon Sharrott, Andy Bailey and Nick Barton added further scores in the opening 40 before Bailey and Sam Stables touched down after the turn around. Sayer kicked four conversions.

With Guernsey on the front foot for much of the afternoon, their penalty count was down, while Haywards Heath did lose a player to the sin bin for repeated infringements. However, the green and whites finished with only 14 men on the pitch as injuries took their toll with both Malcolm Barnes and Jordan Reynolds.

Reynolds concluded by saying ‘Having that kind of victory over there was great for us when we are chasing bonus points. Not many teams put that many points on Haywards Heath when they are at home.

Scorers:
Tries - Andy Bailey (2), Blair Campbell, Sam Stables, Nick Barton, Luke Sayer and Simon Sharrott
Conversions - Luke Sayer (4)

Guernsey 2nd XV 23 – 27 JU Banks, Verras Law JRA League
The seconds struggled in the first half, particularly in the scrums and Banks capitalised on this to score three tries. Alec Bailey scored two penalties so the half time score was 19-6.

The second half was much better and forwards were winning clean ball for the backs. Dave Davison scored two tries before Divon Crouse scored under the posts and Alex Bailey got the conversion to put the seconds 23-19 up with about 10 minutes to go. Banks got a penalty to close to one point but then scored a very late try in the corner.