Down to a Jack Moyse goal at half-time after a dominant first period for Le Rocquier, the Greens flipped the game on its head within 15 minutes of the restart as a double from Tommy Ward left their Eastern opponents in shock.
Jude Courval made it 3-1 with 20 minutes to play before an own goal reduced Le Rocquier’s deficit, and a nervy final few minutes followed before Haute Vallée could celebrate.
Not many would deny that Le Rocquier were by far the better team in the opening 40 minutes, playing patient, measured football through midfield with the wind behind them as Haute Vallée resorted on long balls forward. Ward’s side managed just one shot before the break – a close-range attempt from Courval, smothered by opposing ‘keeper Dylan Hingston – but the defence held firm to restrict the Reds to a host of speculative long range efforts.
Moyse did give Le Rocquier reward for their labour, nudging home a Sol Solomon inswinging cross on 37 minutes, but they were unable to maintain their hold on the game as they took their turn at tackling the head wind, and were duly punished.
With new-found confidence, Haute Vallée quadrupled their shot tally in the first three minutes of the second half, and it didn’t take long for them to draw level, with Ward running on to a looping ball forward before flicking over an onrushing Hingston from just outside the box.
The striker grabbed his second ten minutes later, heading home Billy Winton’s cross while unmarked at the far post, and Courval hit what turned out to be the winner on the hour-mark – a 30-yard free-kick that found the net via Hingston’s right-hand post.
Louis Bootland helped Le Rocquier back into the tie with eight minutes to play – his diagonal ball into the box from the right was deflected over ‘keeper Filipe Gois’ head – but a third goal eluded them, despite a late flurry of clear-cut chances.
‘We had to be good defensively in the first half … the boys were disappointed to be 1-0 down,’ said Haute Vallée coach John A’Court. ‘But we played as a tighter unit in the second half, and both the football we played and the goals we scored were fantastic.’
Haute Vallée: Filipe Gois, Marcus Ferreira, Daniel de Sousa, Alex de Graca, Jack Happer, Kieran Le Mottée, Alex de Sousa, Billy Winton, Hugo Pereira, Jude Courval, Tommy Ward. Subs: Dylan Smith, Aaron Gallichan.
Le Rocquier: Dylan Hingston, Luke O’Connell, Jack Moyse, Michael De Jesus, Tyler Hingston, Daniel Rodrigues, Louis Bootland, Luke Shirley, Callum Robbins, Sol Solomon, Bruno Abreu. Subs: Sam Lilley, Cole Gage, Jenson Ellis, Jay White.
