Guernsey FC's women's team prepare for debut match

Guernsey FC's women's team have yet to play a competitive match

"I just wish I was a little bit younger," says Guernsey FC's goalkeeper Kayleigh Marquis as she gets ready for the club's first-ever match.

A veteran of almost two decades of football on the island, Marquis has joined up with Guernsey FC's new women's team as they prepare to play their first-ever match on Friday.

The Green Lionesses travel to Corinthian Casuals in the first round of the Isthmian League Cup as they aim to continue the rebuild of a sport on the island that not long ago could not even raise a team to play rivals Jersey.

They hope to one day establish themselves in the English league system in the same way the men's side have done since they were formed in 2011.

"Being involved and having this opportunity at this stage for me is fantastic," adds Marquis, whose first taste of off-island action came as a 15-year-old at the 2005 Island Games in Shetland.

And with 30 players all vying for a place in the side the women's game has not been this healthy in Guernsey for some time.

"Squad depth is really important, because you never know what could or could not happen, so to have that squad depth and have more people involved means training can be more intense," Marquis adds.

"There's three of us goalkeepers - I'm the oldest one and I've still got to fight for my position, even with experience."

'I think we've got a good chance'

Guernsey returned to the Island Games for the first time in eight years this summer

Guernsey's most recent experience came when they hosted the Island Games in the summer.

The Sarnians finished last in the 10-team tournament as they lost both of their group matches before being beaten by Hitra in the ninth-place play-off.

It came after a 4-1 loss at home to old rivals Jersey in their annual Muratti Vase match in May.

"It's about raising the standard and trying to get some positives in the group," coach Anna Gauvain tells BBC Channel islands.

"If we just kept training and not having that fixture in mind then things get a little bit boring," she adds.

"Training has been so intense since we've had the fixture, numbers have been great, the commitment from the girls has been really good so that fixture's just spurred everything on."

But with a renewed focus, and new opposition, hopes are high that Guernsey can do well.

"I think we've got a good chance," says right-back Scarlett Kenneally.

"We don't know much about them [Corinthian Casuals], but we've been training hard, so there's positive feelings throughout the team.

"We had a couple of weeks break after the Island Games, but then straight back into it.

"We're focusing on technical skills and building on what we can from the Island Games - because that was a big learning curve for us."

And Kenneally says she and her team-mates have high hopes following the best part of three months of intensive training before the fixture.

"We've got lots of recognition over the last couple of months, so hopefully we'll get a win in our cup game and get a home game soon so everyone can come and watch us.

"We want to improve, we want to succeed and we want to do it for the island."