DESPITE the shoddy weather, last Sunday proved to be a great day for Jersey Hockey as their flagship men’s and women’s teams progressed through their first-round clashes in the England Hockey Knockout Championships in front of an enthralled home crowd.
The ladies were up first and made easy work of their opposition, Lymm, by a whopping 7-1 scoreline, while the men had a slightly tougher affair, emerging from their match-up against Sunbury & Walton Hawks victorious in a 4-3 thriller.
Kicking off the highly-anticipated double-header were the ladies and, in spite of the blistering wind and overcast backdrop, they certainly gave the rousing home supporters a “showcase” to cheer for with an absolute “master class”.
From the outset, the Islanders made their intentions clear.
Just 27 seconds into the match, Chrissie Helmholt-Kneisel intercepted a misguided pass just inside Lymm’s 25-yard line, and quickly set up Aleisha Stilwell in the D.
With a deft manoeuvre around the ‘keeper, Stilwell opened the scoring, giving Jersey Women an early scoreline cushion.
Lymm fought back, attempting to equalise, but the Jersey defence remained resolute, thwarting their attacks with ease.
The match continued as a back-and-forth battle until the ten-minute mark, when the prolific Caesarean captain, Jamey Henderson, found the net after a well-executed short corner, redirecting Emma Bower’s shot into the goal from close range.
As the first half progressed, Jersey’s control over the game became evident, Grace Wetherall in particular springing to life scoring two goals inside as many minutes.
On the 17th minute, her first came from a beautiful one-two passing play that saw her slip a wonderful backhanded shot past the visiting shot stopper.
The second was a remarkable solo effort; Wetherall darted from the halfway line and unleashed a stunning shot from an acute angle that found the sideboard, leaving the fans who were expecting a cross in awe.
By half time, Jersey had established a commanding 4-0 lead and the second half began with Jersey maintaining their momentum.
The Caesareans dominated the possession and spent most of the time on the attack, but they struggled to add to their tally initially.
It was former skipper Natacha Hawkins-Kay who finally broke through on the 55-minute mark, capitalising on another short corner with a powerful shot that sailed through the Lymm defence into the back of the net.
There was a brief glimmer of hope for their UK counterparts when Hollie Acklam scored with a phenomenally well-placed drag-flick. However, Jersey were quick to responded.
Hawkins-Kay notched her second goal shortly after, weaving through defenders before finding the back of the net again.
With just five minutes remaining, captain Henderson sealed the victory, pouncing on a deflection and skilfully slotting home her second goal of the match.
The final whistle eventually blew, with Jersey Women holding a commanding 7-1 scoreline to sail through to the next round.
Simon Watling, Jersey Women’s coach, reflected: “We didn’t know too much about [Lymm], but we were prepared for a tough game.
“Obviously I’m really pleased with the scoreline, but in terms of our performance we can definitely get better.
“We have a very good squad, especially with the younger players coming in to support the experienced leaders we have around.
“Therefore, I’m very excited for this group. We have a big season ahead but now we have a break to regroup and refresh.”
Up next was the men’s team, who were waiting in the wings for their match-up, completely unaware of just what a spectacle both teams would give the local crowd.
Having previously performed extremely well in this competition, hopes will have been high in the Jersey camp heading into their clash with Sunbury & Walton Hawks. However, they were pushed right to the last moments.
It was the visitors who enjoyed the majority of possession through the opening exchanges, though few clear-cut chances were coming.
Jersey’s new addition in goal, Anthony Davies, was on fine form to produce two excellent saves from short corners to keep the scores even.
It was at the 33rd minute that the game’s first goal came, the hosts taking the lead through the outstanding Tom Millar, nudging home his effort from close range to give Jersey the lead going into half time.
The second half brought with it some serious weather, with the rain pouring down on the hallowed Les Quennevais turf.
The visitors, needing a spark from somewhere, got their first just five minutes after the restart.
The scores now 1-1, a mouth-watering last half an hour was in store for the brave crowds.
Cometh the hour, cometh the man, and it was player/coach Tom Sibley on this occasion who stepped up with a huge moment.
Jersey, earning another short corner, provided a slick move which was smashed home by the veteran to put his side back into the lead.
The visitors were far from done, however, and they levelled the game just two minutes later.
Momentum continued to swing and the visitors took a deserved lead with 13 minutes to play, after Jersey conceded a penalty which was slotted into Davies’ bottom-right-hand corner.
A goal down going into the final ten minutes, Jersey were on the ropes.
However, on hand again to score his second of the game was the outstanding captain, Tom Millar, who reacted brilliantly to a clever move from a short corner, sliding in to deflect the long-range strike and square the game with nine minutes to play.
As the dying embers of the game drew closer and the rain continued to fall, it was captain fantastic again who sealed his hat-trick and a famous win for the Islanders.
Another short corner led to almost a carbon copy of the previous, as Millar once again deflected the well-struck flick past the Sunbury keeper and snatched victory with just two minutes remaining.
Sibley commented: “I’m so proud of the boys, turning that around in the last ten minutes. They showed immense courage and fight to do that.
“At the end of the day, we trusted the process, trusted our patterns of play and those chances came and we were able to convert them.”
James Wetherall, president of Jersey Hockey, concluded: “It was great to host two fantastic matches at the clubhouse.
“The ladies served up a master class, while the men showed their fight and determination to force a dramatic late winner.
“It’s such a great showcase for the sport and facility and it was also really pleasing to see representation across both teams from the players that are graduates of our development programme with seven caps going to U18s across both squads.”
Jersey Women’s Squad: Jamey Henderson (c), Lily Cotillard, Trudy Dillon-Nugent, Harley Cadoret, Emma Bower, Eve Taylor Cox, Gigi Cooke, Hannah Scriven, Natacha Kay, Kerry Rogers, Neve Macken, Chloe Cutting, Aleisha Stilwell, Grace Wetherall, Chrissie Helmholt-Kneisel, Emily Le Feuvre.
Jersey Men’s Squad: Tom Millar (c), Anthony Davies, Tom Sibley, Nick Pearce, Barney Aston, Ed Hodgson, Edo van Eijden, Tom Bolton, Alex Bolton, Pete Millar, Jack Tait, Sam Habin, Sam Dunstan, Tiaan Kruger, Phil Cuming, Ben Heelis.
