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Another Gallery update showcasing more of Guernsey's weekend sporting action has been added.

My first assignment on Sunday was to cover the latest round of the Guernsey Velo Club MTB Cross Country at La Pomare.

The track at La Pomare is a surprising find. It's situated in the rural south west amongst the fields. However the GVC have been able to use a small wooded valley to lay out a variety of twisting tracks. They are narrow and demand a level of skill from competitors.

The track is also a challenge for a photographer as movement is very restricted once a race starts. But it's worth the effort as some dynamic pics can be captured.

I've added a new Gallery featuring the pics here:
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE LATEST MTB XC PICS

GFC seem to find halting the run of drawn results a difficult habit to break.

The Isthmian South-Central league doesn't give away any easy games. Most of the opponents are pro's or semi-pros so the extra time they have to train combined with greater experience means our local side of enthusiastic and talented players start each game faced with that fact.

But the GFC know how to punch above their weight and local games enjoy a 'twelfth man' in the form of the home crowd.

Our GFC squad are really well motivated and competitive and I'm sure it wont be long before they take another win!

Pics of the 2-2 draw against Thatcham Town are now online here:
CLICK TO VIEW PICS OF GFC v THATCHAM TOWN

Saturday down at Footes Lane couldn't have packed more sport onto the pitches.

Once again supporters, players and officials proved how important sport is to the community in Guernsey. The value goes beyond the simple act of following your team. It is sports 'total package' of benefits that make an immeasurable impact on so many of us.

Friendships form around the mutual enjoyment of being part of a 'clan'. Peoples busy and stressful lives can be put aside for a few hours and troubles are forgotten in the moments of elation.

There were thousands of spectators spread around Footes Lane to watch three Rugby games including the Centenary of the Siam Cup. Whilst these were taking place there were hockey games played on their pitches. And Guernsey Football Club entertained Tooting & Mitcham in the Isthmian South-Central league!

We didn't manage to win every game but did that really matter when so much good comes out of these events?

If you ever ask that question to a sportsman/competitor you will probably get a funny look and the answer. Well of course it does....

I've added a new Gallery featuring pics of the Centenary Siam Cup here:
CLICK TO VIEW PICS OF THE CENTENARY SIAM CUP

The GFC win just wasn't meant to be it seems.

After holding on to a lead until well into the second half Guernsey Football Club somehow folded to two quick goals from Tooting & Micham meaning the visitors returned home with a full bag of points and broad smiles on their faces.

The Isthmian South-Central league is a tough one where a consistent winning streak needs strong commitment and concentration all the way to the end. GFC certainly have it in them to feature towards the top of this league... they just have to craft that elusive winning form.

I've added a new Gallery featuring my pics of the game here:
CLICK TO VIEW GFC v TOOTING & MITCHAM

Guernsey Athletics had a large entry for Race-2 of the FNB Cross Country Series.

The course involved laps around Delancey Park which has quite a surprising amount of ups and downs. This makes it difficult for runners to get into a rhythm.

I followed the action and there is a new Gallery online here:
CLICK TO VIEW RACE-" OF THE FNB XC SERIES

Last night I photographed Belgrave Wanderers v Rangers under flood lights at The Track. This Priaulx League game saw Bels have a dominant 3-0 win over the visiting side.

The dry and mild evening meant it was a nice place to be.... only one dark corner of the pitch (due to blown flood light bulbs) limited some of the photographers angles!

I still managed to captured some of the action. View the pics here:
CLICK TO VIEW BELS v RANGERS UNDER FLOOD LIGHTS

It's great to see that Table Tennis still has an enthusiastic following in Guernsey.

I popped along to the Hougue Du Pommier last night to photograph the Whistlers Open Singles. I'm always surprised by the speed of the top players.

The Guernsey Table Tennis Association hall at Hougue Du Pommier is a great facility and of course it offers year round protection from the weather!

If your chosen sport is played outside maybe you should pop along too. If you aren't looking forward to the coming winters damp and cold you would be sure to receive a warm welcome at the Club.

I've uploaded a Gallery of my pics. Follow this link to view them:
CLICK TO VIEW THE WHISTLERS OPEN SINGLES TABLE TENNIS

I admit that if I had to choose the class of Mountain Bike racing to photograph top of the list would probably be Downhill.

It's just that a photographer is always looking for the 'dynamic peak' moment of action... we aren't able to tell our story with moving pictures like a videographer. A single image has to tell a story.

So that pic needs some 'dynamic action'. At least that is the photographers dream! In the end we have to work with what we have... and sometimes we get great pics when we weren't expecting them.

So I offer my thanks to the GVC Mountain Bikers for entertaining me this morning whilst you raced the twisting circuit laid out in fields at Norgiot. This was a XC race (not a Downhill) but it still produced the 'goods' for me!

It's always a help for us 'togs when a race takes place on a circular course as we have multiple opportunities to capture our pics. The negative is that there is a temptation to take MORE (too many) pics!

So the result of this mornings MTB XC is a new gallery that features around 180 pics! You're spoilt for choice!
CLICK TO VIEW THE LATEST GVC MTB XC PICS

I photographed the launch event of the Goal50 charity aimed at raising money to support young children in South Africa.

The Sylvans Juniors were the first team to be invited to raise money by asking for donations of £1 coins which are then stuck to a collectors card. When a card is full it is swapped for a new one.

I think this is a great idea. As a boy I enjoyed collecting a variety of cards and I know my grandson also collects Football cards.

There are several different Goal50 cards to be collected. Lets hope the idea really takes off!

I've added a few pics to this Gallery:
CLICK TO VIEW THE GOAL50 PICS

It's too much to expect every race of a Winter Cross Country series to be run in glorious sunny weather so I made the best of those pleasant conditions at race one of the 2021 FNB XC Series.

This race at L'Ancresse was over the Stonecrusher Course which offers true Cross Country running with tricky uneven ground in some places and several energy sapping climbs. OK, maybe one thing was missing... read on.

The size of entry was impressive. Every runner now has a chance of competing in each event through into the New Year. It will be interesting to see how many turn out in the mid-winter rain and gales and the missing XC ingredient MUD!!

A new Gallery of pics can be viewed here:
CLICK TO VIEW THE FNB STONECRUSHER XC PICS

The surf's up at Vazon.... a few pics from the archive.

I continue to sort through some untouched folders which are a legacy from the time I was sorting out the modernization and renovation of our new home.

There are more folders lurking in the dark corners of my hard drives... so that's the dark evenings sorted out then!
CLICK TO VIEW THE VAZON SURFING PICS

There was a true 'Guernsey Together' buzz around Footes Lane when GFC returned to Isthmian South-Central league football after the extended break caused by the Covid situation.

The GFC Manager had been careful to manage the expectations of club supporters making it clear that after being laid up since February 2020 the players would be missing match fitness.

But once the crowd had welcomed the team back on to the Footes Lane turf GFC got off to an impressive and spirited start. They were fired up and eager to hit the ground running... literaly!

So just ten minutes in they were two up and continued on for a deserved 3-1 win. We all wait eagerly for their next local outing.

I've added a gallery of pics featuring the action here:
CLICK TO VIEW THE GFC v SUTTON COMMON ROVERS PICS

I've enjoyed a busy weekend that included everything from an Apples exchange for Cider drop-off at the Rocquettes Cider Farm to the 2021 Christmas lights installation featuring a giant bauble!

Between those assignments there was time for a few pics of the Dogbreaker run... whoever came up with that name? There was Autocross racing at Chouet and a fantastic football game at Footes Lane, GFC v Sutton Common Rovers... well done to our boys for the 3-1 win.

I've just added a Gallery featuring the Autocross Round 2 of the Winter Championships here:
CLICK TO VIEW THE LATEST AUTOCROSS RACING

Who’d have thought that so many people would be into looking at pictures of hardcore action?

Those pictures are some the most recent ones that I’ve taken and they feature guys and gals in hardcore slippery action.

And before you get too worked up let me be clear. I’m talking about the weekends Petit Bot hill climb... the one raced in torrential rain!!

I’m commenting about this as my website has been taking a lot of hits in the last 24 hours... over 35,000 picture views!!

Not all visitors have been looking at the hardcore racers as there are thousands of other pics in the Galleries but thanks for the interest.

If you want to see what you have been missing follow this link:
CLICK TO VIEW THE PETIT BOT HARDCORE RACING

I've had a gentle reminder that I hadn't uploaded my pics from the 30th August hill climb. That is now sorted!

But I did have a sort of excuse... carry on reading to be informed!

This is my sick note to the Clerk of the Course that tells the story.

Dear Chemy – Clerk of the Course.

I’ve written this sick note to you to explain that Andrew isn’t feeling very well today.

It seems that yesterday someone made Andrew drink a lot of beer at the Vale Earth Fair.

When I asked how much he’d drunk all he could remember was that it was lots and lots and lots! Poor thing.

This is also why he was late arriving at the hill today.

I hope you will show him some compassion and give him credit for making the courageous effort to get out of bed this morning.

I also ask that you make allowances if the standard of his work isn’t as good as normal.

I’m sure Andrew will be fine in a couple of days... or after having another beer.

Love, Carol

OH, and in case you are wondering. It was me who forged the sick note.... just like I used to do at school.

My wife is amazing but there is as much chance of her showing me any sympathy when I have a hangover as there is of me breaking the ‘Terres hill record!!

The picture above confirms that I wasn't functioning fully :-)
CLICK TO VIEW THE 30-08-2021 HILL CLIMB GALLERY

The weather may have been near perfect for the 2021 Butterfield Half Marathon but nothing will ever make finishing this race any easy job.

Marathon running in all its formats requires competitors to dig deep into their reserves of stamina and mental strength.

However that fact wasn't enough to put off a full entry of runners for this years event.

Indeed a Marathon challenge is one of the 'boxes' to be ticked for many people it seems. Well done to all those who took part. All of you proved you have the willpower and determination to train and commit yourself to achieve a goal.

As for me... well I did what I do, take pictures!

Click the link to view my Butterfield Half Marathon gallery:
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE BUTTERFIELD HALF MARATHON PICS

It was all about roads and racing for my first two assignments this morning.

The problem was it was a very early start. I had to be on 'track' for a 6:45 race start for the GVC 25 Mile TT over a new circuit starting at Cobo.

As I drove down to the coast it was still dark and I questioned whether I was wasting my time. All photographers need light to capture an image... at least a little!

But by race start I could make out the riders and with a bit of help from some flash I was able to start working.

There is a new gallery featuring my pics. Click on the link below to view them.

But this job was just the start of a busy morning and once the TT had finished I had to head south for another form of road racing... this time it was the Butterfield Half Marathon.

The edit of those pics is underway. Check back tomorrow to take a look.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE GVC 25 MILE TT

Just to remind me that the seasons are rolling by I had to shoot my first football game of the new season under floodlights at Blanche Pierre Lane.

None of the local flood lit pitches are easy to photograph at but the evening games are going to come along thick and fast so a sports photographer just has to get on with the job.

However there is one welcome change this year as the worst lit of the pitches will not be hosting any night games this year... at least not before the lighting is renewed.

So us photographers won't be pushing the limits of our cameras at Corbet Field. YEY!!

This link is to Wednesday's flood lit game - Under 15's Saints v Rangers at Blanche Pierre Lane:
CLICK TO VIEW U15 SAINTS v RANGERS UNDER LIGHTS

It’s OK, I’m fine.

But that was a shockingly close encounter for me.

Whilst photographing the start of the Graniteman Triathlon I found myself (nearly) taking a landscape picture!! Strictly speaking it was probably more like a seascape really!

This has left me quite unsettled as I haven’t ventured near that genre for nearly twenty years. In fact not since I started taking pics professionally!

Somehow the types of photography that gave me so much pleasure during my Royal Photographic Society and Camera Club days don’t seem to have space and time in my current working week.

Whilst editing the photoshoot of the 2021 Guernsey Graniteman Triathlon I realised that maybe I need to re-awaken some of that old passion. However I also have to concede that there are many truly talented landscape photographers in Guernsey who produce outstanding work.... and also don’t mind getting out of bed for the early morning atmospheric light.

I’m definitely more of a night person. So upon further reflection I think I’m going to stick with what I do.

I’ll leave the scenic pics to those who know what they are doing... and can get out of bed!

Oh, and if you are wondering what made me start thinking about all this, the photo at the top of this Blog will help you understand.

My full Gallery of Graniteman Triathlon pics can be viewed by following this link:
CLICK HERE TO VIEW PICS OF THE 2021 GUERNSEY GRANITEMAN TRIATHLON

On Saturday the 'King of the Ring' returned to KGV for 17 bouts of White Collar Boxing offering a full late afternoon and evening of entertainment.

The huge gathering was reported to be around 2000 for Round 4 of the King of the Ring.

The warm summers evening relaxed the supporters who needed little encouragement to drink and party from late afternoon and through the evening. The Breda can count on some of the tables would have needed a calculator to tally!!

Revelers clearly enjoyed the entertainment with many of the fighters ticking the 'try boxing' box.

This gallery showcases some of the atmosphere and all seventeen bouts....
CLICK TO VIEW THE KING OF THE RING ROUND 4 PICS