Despite their defeat at Springfield, the performance of his squad delighted JFA under-16 development manager Clive Richardson.
‘We knew it was going to be tough; it was and I’ve nothing but praise for our squad,’ said Richardson.
‘Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the game, it was a great fixture to have.
‘We have only had one training session together and we worked hard on defending as a unit.
It paid off, we contained them well, they have played a lot together and we used the ball constructively when we had it.
‘There is a lot to work on and hopefully we will be able to put it to the test again, if we can secure a few more quality matches.’ An appreciative crowd of around 500 watched Gavin Graham fire the Irish ahead from 20 yards after he collected a throw-in.
Two minutes later Graham was on hand to tap home a rebound after his initial header produced a parried save from Jersey ‘keeper Ivan De Freitas.
Irish ‘keeper Jonathan Sergeant then produced a fine save to stop Jersey’s Jack Boyle reducing the deficit and Sergeant was also alert to cut out a cross from Declan Sowney following his fine run late in the first half.
Substitute Jersey goalkeeper Max Jouan made an impressive save from Dean McCormick but, six minutes from the end, an excellent five-pass move, from the heart of the Irish defence, resulted in their third and final goal – McCormick scoring from William Faulkner’s pass.
Both squads received commemorative medals from match sponsors Beaumont Home Centre managing director Roland Guy.
Said Richardson: ‘It wouldn’t have been possible without sponsors Beaumont Home Centre.’ The matches, including Northern Ireland’s 5-1 win over a Jersey Football Combination Select on Monday, were arranged by Sporting Eventualities.
Jersey U16s: Daniel Ratcliff, Rory de la Haye, Jordan McBride, Aarron Scott, Alex Gee, Jack Boyle (capt), Declan Sowney, Callum Brennan and Arthur Illingworth (all Jsy Scottish); Sam Hare, Peter Rothwell (both First Tower); Sam Meiklejohn (Sp Academics); Ivan De Freitas (Trinity); Max Jouan, Tim Cupit, James Quérée, Dane Sutton (Jsy Wanderers); Liam Walker, Declan Norris (St Brelade); Stephen Phelan (St Paul’s); José Andrade (St Ouen).
Northern Ireland: Jonathan Sergeant, Andrew King, Richard Vauls, Christopher Ramsey, Shane O’Neill, Nathan Hanley, Christopher Curran, Patrick McLaughlin, Ryan Thompson, Kenneth Keys, Gavin Graham, Connor Devlin, Paul Gallagher, William Faulkner, Dean McCormick, Brian McCaul, Nevin Spence and Ryan O’Neill.
Officials: Herbie Barr (Northern Ireland), Nick Parker, Nick Richardson and Garry Poole.
