JERSEY RFC Men battled through torrential rain and harsh wind to come out on top 14-7 over Bracknell at CoinShares Park on Saturday afternoon and extend their impressive unbeaten streak this season.
“Overall, we’re really pleased with the win,” said head coach Myles Landick. “We played with the wind in the first half and we were extremely dominant, but probably didn’t come away with as many scores as we’d have liked in the second, when we were playing into the wind, which was very difficult.
“When I say the conditions were absolutely horrendous, that’s an understatement. I was touch judge on the far side for quite some time and that second half was brutal. How anyone out there even caught the ball was unbelievable so credit must be given to both sides.
“This game probably wasn’t the best one to watch, but ultimately it’s a win on the scoresheet. We have to keep cracking on, turning up and getting results, as we dominated in large areas of the game, but just didn’t convert as many opportunities. With that said, I have to thank all the fans who came up to support the team today – fair play to turn up in this weather.”
Jersey RFC 14
Tries: Whitson 3’, Willmott 26’
Conversions: Penberthy x 2
Bracknell 7
Tries: Noah Cannon 43’
Conversion: Hardwicke
The Caesareans entered the contest with odds heavily in their favour, still yet to taste defeat as they sat atop the league table by a fair margin, and they didn’t hesitate to show why.
Only three minutes after Bracknell kicked off the contest, the boys in red already put a score on the board, as skipper Evan Whitson drove over the line from a catch to put the hosts ahead.
The ever-reliable Aaron Penberthy then quickly followed that up by putting away a tricky conversion, seeing Jersey up 7-0 early on.
With the wind on their side, Jersey RFC showed no signs of resting on their laurels, as they took hold of the advantage to relentlessly advance downfield, dominating Bracknell to practically live in their opponent’s half for the majority of the half.
As the Islanders constantly threatened near Bracknell’s try line, the visitors held firm and several scrums ensued. However, Jersey’s physicality towered over their foes as they dominated in the scrums, winning pretty much every one of the first half.
After knocking on the door for a while, spectators had to wait until the 26th minute, where local ace George Willmott showed some real grit. After receiving the ball, Willmott took it upon himself to make a thumping run through the middle, slamming into an opponent before extending his arm for the try. Another accurate conversion by Penberthy doubled their lead, making it 14-0.
Although the home side now had a clear lead, Bracknell were beginning to get a grasp on the game, as they soon started setting up their first attacking opportunities of the match to threaten the hosts following Willmott’s try.
By the 29th minute, the shoe was certainly on the other foot for Jersey, as they were on their try line. With their backs against the wall, Jersey showed their toughness to dig deep and somehow stop their adversaries, forcing a scrum before then clearing their line with a big kick to avoid conceding.
Following that close call, Jersey RFC instantly hit back to once again re-establish their command of the match-up, with another powerful run by Willmott setting up a strong attacking manoeuvre.
The Caesareans showed great passing to quickly move the chains, but a costly drop by Penberthy on the wing stopped them in their tracks and gave Bracknell back possession.
Despite the slip up, the reds quickly rallied to regain possession, with player-coach Scott Van Breda then making a big run through the middle to set up good field position for the attacking Caesareans, and, in the blink of an eye they were right there on their opponents’ try line.
The Islanders were incredibly close to putting another try on the board, as they were mere centimetres from the line, but a foul set them back for a scrum in the 34th minute to take away from their momentum.
As half-time approached, tensions boiled over in the middle of the pitch after some grappling, with Jersey’s Huw Owen and Bracknell’s Sam Gratton each being shown a yellow card.
That wrapped up the first half, with Jersey 14-0 ahead going into the break.
Second Half
Following a short interval, Jersey kicked off the second half, with action opening to each team going kick-for-kick. However, Bracknell were the ones to make the first move, with their electric number 10 Vic Hardwicke making a promising early move to chip the ball over the defending Jersey’s heads and run through.
It wasn’t meant to be though, as a second kick from the away player tumbled wide past the touchline.
Bracknell seemed a refreshed side in the game’s second act, as they took advantage of the wind being on their side to try and further their grasp on the game, and it didn’t take long before they got into a dangerous position.
The visitors’ Leroy Hove powered through to set up a threat to Jersey’s lead, before Cannon gathered the ball and slid over the line to give Bracknell their first points of the day.
Hardwicke then followed that up with a solid conversion, reducing the deficit to 14-7 in the 43rd minute.
Jersey had the script flipped on them early in the second half, as they were losing some of their dominant hold on the game. However, the Caesareans gathered themselves to then make a promising attack, once again right on their opponents’ doorstep and nearing the try line. But Bracknell dug deep and held firm to deny the hosts building their lead, still leaving a good chance of levelling the score.
Battle then ensued as both were at a standstill, with neither side able to break through.
Following a short while, Jersey managed to find themselves in the opposing half once again, but a wayward pass saw Bracknell’s Cannon leap on what seemed to be an attempted interception.
Before the away side could show their elation, the referee put a dampener on their celebrations by bringing the ball back and calling Cannon for offside, showing him a yellow card to result in a ten-minute sin bin.
Jersey were once again right at the try line afterwards, with many thinking this was going to be their third score of the game. Unfortunately, conditions once again showed their impact on the game as there was another costly drop.
In the 70th minute, Caesarean Euan Spencer made an impact on the game by showing great agility to forge a winding run through Bracknell’s line, and it seemed he’d go all the way. In a tragic stroke of luck though, the ball was slapped out of Spencer’s hand just before crossing the line and Jersey were denied yet again.
As Bracknell returned the ball to the middle of the field, both sides battled it out before the final whistle then rung out, and Jersey came out 14-7 victors.
Evan Whitson
Captain Whitson was happy with the win, as he made his comments after the game: “The conditions played a huge part today and that was a battle, probably for the poorest, but we’re chuffed to get the win. Bracknell are a tough team, they stuck it out and kept coming at us for 80 minutes and proved they were a test, so we’re happy to get the victory.
“With it being Scott’s 100th game today, we wanted to start well as he gives so much to the club. We started well, but credit to Bracknell they came back into it, but we just weren’t as clinical today. We have a great pack here with a lot of depth and showed great play. Euan [Spencer], especially, really turned up today, but we just couldn’t get that ball to stick.
“We’ll be taking our determination as a squad from this game into the next, as this shows we can stick in the fight and keep going to take away a win. Also, that showed we can find shape in tough conditions. If that last pass stuck, we would have been four – five – six tries up, so we can take some confidence and hopefully, when the weather improves, stick and we’ll be scoring those tries.”
Jersey RFC: [15-9] Aaron Penberthy, Dylan Stocks, George Willmott, Dan Barnes, Bevan Biggs, Scott Van Breda, Liam Rhodes [1-8] Huw Owen, Jack Macfarlane, Jack Higgins, Cam Keys, Max Ayling, Tom Tilstone, Evan Whitson (c), Euan Spencer
Replacements: Morgan Brady (for Tilstone, 47’), Tom Ellis (for Whitson, 58’), John O’Sullivan
Bracknell: [15-9] Tom Johnson, Sam Boys, Ewan Castle, Gus O’Connor, Noah Cannon, Vic Hardwicke, Harry Warr (c) [1-8] Jake Hodge, Bradley Walters, Sam Gratton, Sam Dunks, Tom Scott, Hamish Beattie, Dan Kane, Josh Riles
Replacements: Leroy Hove, Ruairi Henderson, Ben Radford
