Jersey chairman Bill Dempsey wants British & Irish Cup success over league place

Bill Dempsey has been Jersey chairman for the past eight years

Jersey chairman Bill Dempsey says he would rather the club won the British and Irish Cup than achieve a fifth-place finish in the Championship.

Jersey travel to Bedford for their first ever game in the knockout stages of the competition on Friday.

"Everything's about winning. To be in fifth would be brilliant and I think we will do that," he told BBC Jersey.

"But to get silverware creates a real buzz and a real momentum about what you do for the future and it sets targets."

Dempsey has led Jersey through their rise from amateur rugby to the professional ranks of the Championship and will step down from his role at the end of the season.

And he says the consistency his side have shown this season has impressed him, adding: "In the British and Irish Cup we qualified in sixth spot and in the Championship we're in fifth place.

"Actually putting both of them together shows the real progress, not just for the cup but the progress in general that we've made.

"Last year we finished seventh but didn't do anything in the British and Irish Cup, so now it's putting it in across the board which is much more relevant."