MYLES LANDICK was pleased with his “team’s desire”, as Jersey RFC extended their win-streak to 14 straight in Regional 2 South Central, courtesy of a superb second half comeback to edge past Farnham 47-34.
The Surrey-based visitors put up a courageous performance, having already pushed the Islanders close in the reverse fixture earlier in the campaign.
Head coach Landick said: “We know as the top team in our league, opponents are always going to come hard at us. This was no exception. Farnham are a strong, physical team and they really put pressure on us, especially in the first half.”
Boasting serious physicality, Farnham led the league leaders 7-21 after half an hour, cancelling out the lead Tom Wilson had given the hosts after 15 minutes. The former Red continued: “Huge credit to Farnham, they played some lovely rugby in the opening period.
“They put us on the back foot and made it difficult.
“We went in at the break and spoke about our energy and work rate.
“The attack was there, we just needed to be prepared to defend properly to earn those attacking opportunities.
“We can’t turn those effort levels on and off. We don’t want to make any excuses about having time off, all teams in the league have had the same.
“Players in this division are good enough to turn up on the day.
“We dealt with the challenge well and it’s another five points on the journey that we’re on.”
The former Jersey Red has regularly spoken about wanting his young squad to gain as much experience to league rugby as possible, in aid of their future goals.
He added: “Coming through this tough game was an excellent learning curve for our younger squad members.
“It’s crucial to build for the future.
“We want our squad to be centred around home-grown talent and it’s incredibly promising to see our academy graduates showing such nerve under pressure in big games.
“Days like this will certainly prove a great lesson for them moving forward.
“We have a tough away game next against Chichester with a busy block of fixtures following.
“We need to be back to our best for those games, especially the away fixtures, as those results don’t come easy.”
The fixture proved extra special for Aaron Penberthy, who celebrated his 100th appearance in a Jersey shirt.
Landick said of his star kicker: “Aaron is very special.
“His ability is outstanding and he is a brilliant mentor to our young players.
“To reach 100 caps is a great achievement for him and we hope he plays many more for us.”
Penberthy capped off his special day, surrounded by his travelling family and friends, by bringing up his century of points in the 2023/24 league campaign.
The fly-half said: “It means a lot to reach 100 caps.
“I’ve been here a long time now, but I didn’t actually know it was my 100th until a couple of days ago.
“To have my family here watching as well makes it that much more special.
“I did know I was close to the 100-point mark though.
“That’s a cool milestone to reach, I’m really proud and I hope I can score a few more before the season is done.
“Credit to Farnham for a really hard game, but I was proud of the way the lads regrouped at half time to pull it back to get the win.”
