Fortunes turned Jersey’s way for the second fixture of the Channel Islands’ premier rugby date, as the Jersey 2nd XV came back late to level the score and retain the trophy 21-21.
Many around the ground were anticipating a razor-tight contest between the inter-insular rivals – but, to begin with, that couldn’t have been further from the truth, as Guernsey’s sheer size and strength saw them bulldoze through the Caesareans’ line.
By the end of the first half, Guernsey were well in the lead at 21-0 and, with little sign of Jersey threatening the Sarnians, many in the crowd thought it was yet another piece of silverware lost on the day.
But the team certainly didn’t, as they hung in there and waited for their opportunity, which presented itself with only 16 minutes to go as Jersey pushed in the try to get their first points on the board and make it 21-7 with Eryk Swiech’s conversion.
That seemed to kick Jersey up a gear, as they found a second wind to immediately press into the final third – and, before you knew it, number seven Luke Bowles had broken through and sprinted through between the posts, setting up another conversion for Swiech to make it 21-14.
In what seemed like the blink of an eye, the Caesareans had completely flipped the script, going from a sure thing for Guernsey to a match completely up for grabs.
With the clock winding down and only seven points in it, both sides battled it out in the middle of the park. But Jersey kept moving forward and, although Guernsey defended valiantly on the try line, there was nothing that could stop the boys in red, as skipper Nathan Rogers made his mark to extend for the try.
When the pressure was on, Swiech truly rose to the occasion for the day, as he was 100% for all three conversions – with his last effort tying up the game at 21-21.
What ensued was an immensely tense stand-off on the pitch, as both teams were up against the clock in their attempts to decide the fate of the Fallaize Cup.
However, it proved to be that Jersey’s 2nd XV had done enough to see the prestigious cup return home, as nothing could break the deadlock.
This was a huge moment for Jersey with it being their first piece of silverware won on the day. With the Women’s and Men’s Siam matches to go, there’s still everything to play for.
