Old Alleynians 25
Tries: Eames 18′, Bennett 52′, Lienafa 75′
Cons: Bennett 19′, 76′
Pens: Bennett 1′, 30′
Jersey RFC 54
Tries: Macfarlane 16′, 40′, 58′, 70′, 80+1′, Euan Spencer 24′, Barnes 35′, Keys 77′
Cons: van Breda 17′, 25′, 36′, 40+1′, 59′, 78′, 80+2′
HT Score: 13-28
Attendance: 225
Player of the Match: Jack Macfarlane
REVENGE can taste so sweet in sport, and that’s exactly what Myles Landick’s Jersey RFC side enjoyed in abundance as they scored an emphatic eight tries over title rivals Old Alleynians on Saturday.
Hooker Jack Macfarlane put in a talismanic performance in the 54-25 victory, scoring five tries alone as the St Peter’s-based side put the record straight against a team that gave them two of the most gruelling tests last season.
It was only nine months ago that Landick and co had their promotion hopes severely dented in the mud of Dulwich Common, as the south Londoners produced a surprising 41-36 win in a re-arranged fixture on Burns Night.
But there was no second coming for the city side that’s produced 27 internationals in their 127-year history, with No.8 Euan Spencer, inside-centre Dan Barnes and lock Cameron Keys all scoring a try apiece while fly-half Scott van Breda tallied 14 points from the tee.
Man of the match, Macfarlane, was clearly delighted after missing the trip over in January, and told the JEP: “We spoke in the week about the last time the guys came here Old Alleynians did a good job on us, we didn’t play well and they deservedly beat us.
“We wanted to put that one right and produce a much better performance. It felt like there was a real sharpness and focus around that mindset, and you could see it. We were sharp throughout and it was important to put that wrong right.”
On getting over the whitewash five times and putting himself at the top of the Regional 1 South Central try scoring standings, the 33-year-old said: “I got a bit lucky just to be on the end of everyone else’s hard work. What we saw was our maul starting to fire, and that’s really pleasing as it’s been a working area for us. We’ve had some games where teams have defended us well or we’ve not had our drill right.
“So, it was pleasing, as when the maul’s functioning teams have to defend, then we created a lot of space off that. It’s really important and something we did effectively against an Old Alleynians that are difficult to beat as they’ve showed before.
“This league is difficult so we’ve got to go week by week, put in the performances and hopefully that’ll pay off later in the season.”
Just seven miles south of Tower Bridge and the City of London, Dulwich Common was in pristine condition and the home-club’s pre-match lunch sold out ahead of the summit clash between the fifth-tier league’s top two teams.
In less than a minute from Old Alleynians (OAs) ex-Wirral RFC centurion Chris Crowley kicking-off, the navy, royal blue and black hooped home-side won a penalty at a break down in Jersey’s 22-metre area with fullback Dan Bennett opening the scoring from the tee.
Despite being behind, the all-red Jersey side looked indifferent and the first scrum of the game on the fifth minute by the half-way line saw the islanders show their set piece advantage.
A scrum penalty led to a pinpoint Scott van Breda kick to touch down the right before Jacques de la Bat was pushed into touch on the opposite flank after the ball went crossfield.
Second-row Max Ayling stole OAs defensive line-out before the home-side were pinged for illegally tackling van Breda, and a Jersey throw in at another line-out led to a bundle of bodies going over with Macfarlane at the bottom.
Within a minute of the restart, the home team restarted their lead. A turnover led to a sniping Briain Leonard break before the ball went left and blindside flanker Hadley Eames found a gap between the red shirts to run through and score.
The In the second-quarter Jersey’s superior physicality and fitness started to show, No.8 Euan Spencer was one of eight RFC players that features in January’s defeat, and he dotted down right of the posts.
Bennett, OAs talisman this season since joining in the Summer, scored a penalty kick on the half-hour mark after Jersey debutant Matt West was caught high tackling his opposite number Archie Van Dijk.
Then Jersey hit a five-minute purple patch at the end of the half, Dan Barnes dotting down after a powerful run on the left, before another line-out driving maul from 10 metres out led to Macfarlane claiming the bonus-point try.
Jersey continued their relentless endeavour after the interval, but with openside flanker Tom Tilstone pinged at a scrum, OAs took the opportunity to get down the other end before replacement Tommy Williams set up the incoming figure of Bennett to dash over down the right.
Macfarlane claimed his hattrick on the cusp of the hour-mark. A well worked line-out move from 20 metres out created space on the left, and despite Barnes being on Macfarlane’s shoulder, the ex-Scotland under-20s star jogged over to score.
One concern for Landick and co came a few minutes later when scrum-half Liam Rhodes had to limp off after some hamstring issues, with Jacques de la Bat moving to No.9 and Joe Munns coming onto the wing.
Jersey’s notorious Scotsman made it four tries after Bevan Biggs was held up as a line-out move started to break up on the 70th minute, and after OAs openside flanker – juniors graduate Noah Lienafa – powered over on the right in a rare home-side foray into Jersey’s 22-metre area, it was all Jersey once more.
Ex- Kent County forward Cam Keys cantered over on the left after some slick passes, then his second-row partner was central again as the Jersey juggernaut utilised their line-out dominance at the clubhouse side of the field with Macfarlane dotting down at the back of the pack to complete a deserved victory.
After the final whistle, a grinning Jersey RFC director of rugby Myles Landick told JEP: “We couldn’t ask for more from the guys, one hundred per cent. There was a bit of fuel added to the fire from losing away here last season, and that hurt us quite a lot.
“So, to come here on a nice dry day was really pleasing. I thought we were dominant in a good few areas of the field; yes, we made a couple of errors and there was a little bit of ill-discipline which allowed them to score.
“But on the whole Old Alleynians didn’t trouble us too much, and that is a credit to both the quality of our defence and attack. With Jack Macfarlane on form scoring five tries, we clearly had a good solid set-piece.”
Despite Macfarlane scoring five of Jersey RFC’s eight tries, Landick was adamant in it being a team performance. He said: “If you look, we had about seven changes from the game last week. We played a back-row forward among our centres in Matt West, who was outstanding on debut, getting his shots in and carrying the ball well while our set-piece was dominant despite those changes.
“Overall, it is a squad game, we’re only six games in but we’ve got to look after the guys. Our squad has more depth this year, which is great. In January we came here with 22 unavailable players, this time that figure is at 10, but it’s about everyone stepping in, having a chance in the shirt and it’s meant that again we saw a few guys put their hand up when given the opportunity.”
Landick was also impressed by his backs game management, adding: “Scott van Breda was solid again, running the show with some lovely stacking structure when we’re on the ball.
“A couple of tries for the backs, a fair few for the forwards, but whether it was pretty or ugly the most important thing was to come to south London and get a big win and that’s what we did.
“The more we win, the more we’ve got to keep our foot on the gas and push the pressure back on the sides below us to get results. As we’ve already seen its tight in this league with teams beating each other, so it’s important that we just control what we can do, keep winning games and apply that scoreboard pressure to the teams below us.”
Old Alleynians: [15-9; 1-8] Old Alleynians: Dan Bennett; Max Bliss, Archie van Dijk, Max Bobath, Rory Holford; Chris Crowley, Briain Leonard; Jeremiah Manning, Harry Redwood, Luke Bliss, Jack Chapman, Will Palombo, Hadley Eames, Noah Lienafa, Ben Osuntokun
Replacements: Koffi Kouadio, Tom Marchant, Tommy Williams
Jersey RFC: [15-9; 1-8] Mark Boarer, Bevan Biggs, Matt West, Dan Barnes, Jacques de la Bat; Scott van Breda (vc), Liam Rhodes; Morgan Brady, Jack Macfarlane, Huw Owen, Max Ayling, Cameron Keys, Evan Whitson (c), Tom Tilstone, Euan Spencer
Replacements: Jake Bates, Tom Ellis, Joe Munns
