Chairman Morgan dreaming of another Reds result

Friday 09 September 2016

It will be an emotional day for Mark Morgan as he will take his seat for the first time as new Jersey Reds chairman for a home match at St Peter tomorrow.

Mr Morgan played for Jersey in the 1980s before embarking on a successful career in financing and he admits there will be a lump in his throat as the players take the field against Bedford for their first home match of the season.

Last week’s opener could not have gone better for Harvey Biljon’s side as they put 40 points up against newly-promoted Richmond, but Mr Morgan is hoping for nothing more than a home win, however it comes about.

“If we are successful by a point in the last minute, I’ll happily take that,” he said. “It will be emotional because I played for the club and now I am fulfilling a life’s dream by being chairman for a home match. I’ll be very proud and even prouder if we manage to get another win under our belts.

“I am sure the players will do their best, whatever the outcome and if they play to their full potential, under Harvey’s leadership, I’m hoping they will come out on top. Bedford suffered a home thrashing last weekend at the hands of Cornish Pirates so they will be hurting from that and desperate to make amends. It’s the players’ job to make sure that doesn’t happen.

“We had three wins in a row in pre-season, including our first ever victory over a Premiership outfit, albeit in a friendly, so to start the actual season proper with an away win was terrific. Now the players have got to back up four really good performances with a fifth. It will be tough, but that’s what rugby is all about.”

Last weekend’s success at Richmond underlined Jersey Reds’ strong unit and the players are in peak fitness having completed a gruelling 12-week pre-season training regime.

Mr Morgan said: “Richmond was terrific for us because it was 10-3 nearly at half-time and we had scored two super tries, when we camped ourselves on their line. The referee bottled it because we should have been awarded a penalty try under the posts as they repeatedly collapsed the scrum. It’s a mystery to me why he didn’t penalise Richmond, but then they went up the other end scored and inside of 17-3 at half-time, we were in a close contest.

“The players could have sulked about that, but they showed fantastic patience and determination and we ran away with it in the end. To score over 40 and get the maximum five league points from that game was an achievement. It is obviously very early days but it shows we really mean business.”

As for the league this season, Mr Morgan says it is way too early to make any grandoise predictions, although all the signs are that Harvey Biljon’s side should be one of the stronger teams in the Championship.

“I think we have the squad to be there or thereabouts when it comes to getting in the play-off places, but the coach and his players all know that success only comes when you base your approach on one game at a time. At the moment, Bedford stand between us and another win, so that is what we have to concentrate on.”

Mr Morgan is hoping for a sizeable crowd for the season’s first game at St Peter, especially after the Richmond result.

“We averaged around 2,000 last year for home games, which is great and although it is likely to be warm and sunny so the beach is a real option, I just hope we can get around that figure because the players get enormous confidence from running out to a good crowd.

“Pre-season has been very busy, we’ve made big improvements to the ground and I hope there are lots of Reds fans following us for the first home game.”