“YOU shall not pass” was the cry from East Grinstead as they shut out Jersey Women to produce a shock 12-0 win and hand out their guest’s first defeat of the season.
As the heavy Sussex playing field churned up, both teams were dragged down into a muddy war of attrition in the midfield. Only two tries were scored. Unfortunately for Jersey both of them went in favour of their hosts.
“It was just one of those days,” conceded the Islanders’ head coach Simon Le Moignan.
That it took the best part of half an hour for a breakthrough in the score says everything about how this match went. There was little in it throughout. It just so happened that East Grinstead got the breaks at the right moments, their second try coming with a little over five minutes of the match remaining.
Jersey kept plugging away, huffing and puffing towards their opponents try-line but East Grinstead repelled them, the heavy conditions suiting them but a disadvantage to Le Moignan’s team, despite dominating possession and territory.
“The conditions weren’t ideal for our brand of rugby, but to their credit East Grinstead were very well organised defensively, very physical and aggressive in the tackle. They only got into our 22 twice in the whole of the game and came away with two scores,” said Le Moignan.
“We never took a backward step. We kept trying to keep going forward, kept trying to run our patterns but it was just one of those days in the office.
“A lot of the times it was that final pass [that let us down]. It was frustrating but they never lost their heads and just kept bashing away.”
Jersey had thought they had scored in the second half when the ball was touched down but the referee didn’t give it and the defeat means they slip to second place in the Women’s NC 2 South East (South), a point behind Beckenham II, albeit with a game in hand. They now have a month to regroup ahead of their next match at home to Worthing on 6 January.
“It’s just one of those things, you just go and put your hand up. But when we come back in the new year pretty much everyone will be back and hopefully we can kick on.”
Jersey RFC Women squad: Becka Hunter, Lucy Hart, Ella Vieira, Helen Papworth, Emilie Langlands, Abbie Syvret, Katie de la Cloche, Kim Vallance, Bethan Hughes, Lauren Lowe, Tina Davies, Georgina Ruellan, Beth Cooper, Claudia McGuigan, Kimberley Hacquoil, Frankie Vautier, Beckie Vautier, Heather Taylor, Lisa Saout, Nancy Portsmouth
NC 2 South East (South)
P W D L F A Diff Bon Pts
Beckenham II 6 4 0 2 121 78 43 6 22
Jersey 5 4 0 1 143 39 104 5 21
Seaford 5 3 0 2 83 70 13 7 19
Worthing Warriors 5 3 0 2 74 134 -60 7 19
Sutton & Epsom II 5 3 0 2 173 112 61 5 17
East Grinstead 5 3 0 2 123 107 16 5 17
Crawley 7 2 0 5 190 275 -85 9 17
Beccehamian 3 0 0 3 46 114 -68 4 4
Hove II 4 1 0 3 52 76 -24 1 -5
*Hove II deducted 10pts
