Football: Saint’s full house!

  • Premiership champions claim their fifth trophy of the 2014/15 campaign with victory at Springfield.
  • Manager Paul Brannan describes the feat as a ‘special moment’ at the end of his first season in charge.

CHANNEL Islands champions St Paul’s completed an all-conquering season last night after retaining the Le Riche Cup at Springfield Stadium.

St Paul’s 3

Russell 4, McClurg 27, Watson 41

Jersey Scottish 0

The trophy haul capped a magnificent first season for manager Paul Brannan, a former Jersey Scottish coach.

Brannan said: ‘Five out of five in my first season … I could not have asked for any more.

‘But when you’re involved with a team like St Paul’s and the players you have at your disposal, you want to make sure you are involved in every competition and we achieved that and crossed the finishing line first in all of them.

St Paul’s

Scottish
18 Shots 11
6 On target 3
3 Corners 3
6 Fouls 17
0 Yellows 4

‘What these players have achieved is very special; they should be proud of their achievements – I certainly am.

‘This is a special moment for me in my first season as well and it could not have gone any better.

‘It was important for us to settle quickly tonight, we expected a difficult game and getting the early goal really settled the nerves and we played with a lot of confidence after that.

‘We didn’t need to go chasing anything after the break so we sat in and defended and we’ve done it without conceding, which is what I had hoped for.’

Craig Russell, pictured (left) tussling with Scottish's Jordan Rea, opened the scoring in the fourth minute

St Paul’s took just four minutes to open the scoring when Russell hit a rising shot into the roof of the net after Luke Watson laid the ball into his path.

Russell, Craig Leitch and junior Jonny Le Quesne all failed to hit the target when well placed from dead-ball situations, while Scottish defender Mark Logue forced a fine save out of Saints goalkeeper Jimmy Styles.

Jack Cannon, whose delivery into the penalty area was excellent throughout, had a goal-bound effort deflected wide before St Paul’s doubled their advantage from a Cannon free kick.

Leitch was denied by a fine parried save from stand-in goalkeeper Jonny Seller; but the ball ran to Watson out on the left and he drove the ball across goal for Scott McClurg, who used his knee to guide the ball home from two yards.

Watson and Jack Boyle put good chances over for St Paul’s and Scottish respectively before St Paul’s scored their third minutes before the interval.

Le Quesne was the instigator with a fine run at the heart of Scottish’s defence before laying the ball off to Watson, and the Muratti captain fired the ball into the bottom right-hand corner from 20 yards as Seller dived over the ball.

A Jack Cannon free kick set up St Paul's second goal Picture: DAVID FERGUSON

St Paul’s were bright and inventive in the opening 45 minutes and collectively they broke up a lot of the Scottish approach play as they closed their opponents down quickly.

Daryl Wilson’s introduction for the injured Zeljko Martinovic injected life into the Scots after the break and the majority of their attacks came down their right, where Wilson and Max Thompson combined well.

But Scottish struggled to create openings and Styles only had one save to make, a good block with his legs to deny Charlie Petulla.

Seller atoned for his third-goal error by saving Cannon’s low 25-yard effort, but it was the Saints’ night as they stood firm collectively to win the Le Riche Cup for the fifth time in six seasons.

St Paul’s: Jimmy Styles; Jonny Le Quesne, Stuart André, Jordan Docherty, Scott McClurg; Luke Watson (Luca Margaroli, 90), Cavaghn Miley; Craig Leitch, Jack Cannon, Kieran Lester; Craig Russell.

Scottish: Jonny Sellar; Mark Logue (Y), James Scott, Luke Campbell (Y), Calvin Weir; Charlie Petulla (Y), Jordan Rea, Max Thompson, Jamie Savory (Y), Zeljko Martinovic (Daryl Wilson, 38); Jack Boyle.

Officials: Gareth Bayley, Rob Timm, Dougie Orr, Neil Giannoni.

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