TOPPING off a fantastic weekend of sport for Jersey, two days of weekend padel action on home soil saw those in red reclaim the annual “Corcuera Cup” inter-insular trophy, besting rivals Guernsey by eight points.
Established in 2021, the Corcuera Cup has now been played four times, with the home side victorious on each occasion.
Guernsey were first host, and therefore the inaugural winner, but victory for the Caesareans now sees the overall record squared once again at 2-2.
Jersey Padel team co-captain Bero Bobus was elated with his team’s triumph: “I’m so happy that we were able to bring the Corcuera Cup home after it has lived in Guernsey for the past year.
“The scoreline 36-28 looked comfortable but, in reality, that’s only a four-match difference and there were several games that were very close, so it could’ve easily gone the other way.
“Honestly, the whole team was amazing and everyone should be very proud of themselves.
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“Considering the struggles we have had over the last 12 months, to pull this off is really special.
“We weren’t able to play or train at all for three months, as the rebuilding effort after Storm Ciarán was going on, and even after that, it took a long time for Island Padel to fully recover.
“But we were still able to do what was needed to get over the line.”
Despite the immense trials and tribulations Island Padel, and in turn the Jersey Padel players, have faced, the 35-strong side pulled out all the stops to topple the reigning champions.
Leading the charge were the Jersey Men’s Veterans, who convincingly beat their Guernsey counterparts, only dropping four of 16 contests.
Early in the event, David Jenkins and Franck Matthews set the standard for the Jersey side by pulling off a huge upset, the fourth-seeded local pair stunned the number-one Guernsey MD 45+ pair, outlasting them over three sets.
However, Morgan Jubb was the star of the MD 45+ show as he was awarded the category’s “Most Valuable Player” award after progressing through the weekend undefeated alongside his partner Ian Furness.
Jubb and Furness were heavily tested however.
They often say the strongest blades are forged in the hottest fires, and they certainly proved their mettle, triumphing in two nail-biting match tie-breaks, 10-8 and 13-11.
The final of which Bobus highlighted as one of the most important matches of the event.
There were stories aplenty in the Ladies’ Veterans event, with both a huge comeback to take the win and a similar trend of tight tie-breaks for the unbeaten pair, however, this time in favour of the Sarnians.
Guernsey’s Debbie Allen took home the MVP award as she played alongside Andi Ferbrache.
Together, they claimed all four of their possible points against Jersey’s WD 45+ partnerships, albeit being thoroughly challenged throughout.
The Sarnian duo played a whopping five tie-breaks across their fixtures, a testament to the highly competitive level in their bracket.
Close of play on Saturday saw Jersey lead the WD 45+ scoreline 6-5, and furthermore, the opening match of the bracket on Sunday added another point to the home tally.
However, from there on out the WD 45+ scorecard turned green as the last four matches of the draw all went the way of the visitors. Out of the final four matches, three of them went to deciding set tie-breaks, one of which saw Clare Clarke and Kerry Coombs-Goodfellow push the Allen/Ferbrache combination all the way in their ultimate clash.
The Jersey partnership were the main holdouts for the home side in the WD 45+ category as until then, they had been undefeated.
However, a nip-and-tuck game saw them trip at the final hurdle, succumbing 10-8 to the top Guernsey pair.
Heartbreak ensued for the hosts as Liz Casely and Nikki Faux were also pipped to the post 10-8 in another of the concluding clashes taking the final WD 45+ tally to 9-7 Guernsey.
Jersey’s Ladies’ Open squad also narrowly lost out in the inter-island competition with only two matches separating the islands.
Considering Guernsey ran riot in the Ladies’ Open last year, the Caesareans showed a great deal of improvement to push the proven Guernsey side as far as they did.
After only winning one solitary match last year, this time around the Jersey WD Open team won a total of six matches, finalising the tally at 10-6 Guernsey.
The partnerships of Suzy Cornic and Emma Sterry, as well as Sarah Barnes and Sonia Smith, both managed to equal last year’s team tally by themselves with one win each.
However, having recently chosen to focus on tennis, Jolien Borrenberghs made a glorious return to the padel scene as she progressed through the Guernsey cohort undefeated alongside Emma Devenport.
In the Men’s Open, Jersey dug deep to claim an 11-5 victory over their rivals.
James Faudemer and Reuben Legge won two matches, while Scott Clayton/Aaran Higgins, Jon Southern/Bero Bobus and Peter Ahier/Tom Middleton went one better, winning three matches apiece.
Despite a favourable Jersey scoreline, Guernsey’s Olly Cull and Liam De La Mare proved the dominant force as they overcame each of the four Jersey partnerships.
The 2025 edition of the Corcuera Cup will see the Jersey team travel back to the home of Guernsey Padel in St Sampson, hoping to become the first team to finally break the streak of home triumphs.
