Libby Barnett, Ella Brennand and Sam Silva all found the net for the hosts at JTC Park on Sunday to send their side into the last-four – a hurdle already overcome by Rozel thanks to a 13-0 cakewalk against Grouville.
Portuguese, still solidifying their foundations after forming in 2020, enjoyed a promising start to their first knockout cup fixture and were much-improved from the 15-0 and 13-0 defeats suffered against Wanderers earlier in the campaign. They forced a corner within 20 seconds of the first whistle and Marta Ascençao then broke clear for the game’s first chance inside two minutes. The former Island midfielder only had goalkeeper Amy Tierney to beat from 18 yards but rifled over the crossbar. It proved to be one of just three shots mustered by United throughout.
Wanderers spent a large portion of the first ten minutes halting Portuguese’s progress, although the hosts soon woke up and quickly had the opposing defenders facing their own goal.
From there, they were not searching for the opener for long.
Brennand forced a decent save from Vitoria Neves with a speculative effort from 30 yards – pushed past the post with a dive to the right – but the resultant corner proved costly for the shot-stopper. Barnett was quickest to react to the incoming set-piece and scrambled home from close range, amid a sea of bodies.
Debora Vieira was invaluable for United at the heart of their defence – producing a healthy number of strong, well-timed challenges – but the pressure continued to mount in their territory and Wanderers doubled their lead on the stroke of half time through a indirect free-kick from two yards.
It was Brennand leading the celebrations having rifled through 11 charging defenders, after Neves was penalised for diving on a pass from her own defence following Louise Van Der Vliet’s header against the crossbar.
With former Maritmo goalkeeper Ascençao struggling with a muscle strain, she took over from Neves between the posts for the second half and produced a string of stops to prevent the game turning into a rout. Her resistance also included a superb, brave double save to frustrate Sam Silva and Barnett, although by that point she had already been beaten by Silva with a looping effort from 25-yards.
Pamela Calaça checked that Tierney was on her toes with a drilled effort, but the home side’s clean sheet was never in doubt.
Barnett, Wanderers’ captain, said: ‘That’s what we wanted to do – get through to the next round. Our aim is to get to the final and challenge Rozel. We learned a lot about ourselves last week [7-1 defeat to Rovers] and we wanted to turn it around. That’s what we did.’
Discussing United’s involvement this term, she added: ‘It’s fantastic. It’s nice that with the new team there is a new set of footballers. A lot of the girls weren’t previously playing so it is great that they have a new team where they feel like they can play.’
Ascençao, who played alongside Barnett in Jersey’s golden 2015 Island Games campaign, said: ‘We haven’t had the chance to train recently because of coronavirus but I think it was still a good game. They deserved to win … they played better than us.
‘I used to play in goal for Maritimo in Madeira. Me and my colleague used to swap – she went in for the first half and I went in for the second half. I pulled my muscle one month ago and stopped for two weeks, but now I’m back. I never give up … that’s probably why I still have the injury.’
Meanwhile, Rozel coasted into the final with help from an Eve Watson hat-trick, doubles from Hannah Campbell, Macey Wyse and Anita Tavares, singles from Leah Morris, Shannon Webber and Kate Simpson and an own goal.
Jersey Wanderers: Amy Tierney, Iona Sweet, Sarah Le Sueur, Shannon Renouf, Catherine Baudains, Libby Barnett, Ash Whitfield, Ella Brennand, Sam Silva, Louise Van Der Vliet, Lauren Trachy. Sub: Natalie Davies.
Portuguese Utd: Vitoria Neves, Vania Faria, Cecilia Vieira, Alice Caboz, Debora Vieira, Marta Ascencao, Veronica Andrade, Sarah Pita, Nilza Vieira, Paula Veras, Pamela Calaca. Joana Sequeira, Erica Silva, Andrea Pestana, Alice Silva.
Wanderers Portuguese
18 Shots 3
11 On target 1
12 Corners 1
4 Fouls 5
