A DRAMATIC late winner by Jamie Bolton-Grange secured a 3-2 win for the Jersey Men’s hockey team away at Epsom in Round 2 of the England Hockey Tier 2 Cup on Sunday.
“It was a great team performance and a real arm-wrestle of a match,” said player/coach Robbie Forrest. “Everybody contributed in a positive way.”
After receiving a bye in round 1 of the knockout competition, Epsom proved a new entity for the islanders, but they took to their away day in positive fashion, starting the game well and dominating the opening exchanges at City of London Freemen’s School.
“It was a bit of a feisty clash,” Forrest said, “but in a positive way, both teams were well up for it.”
Defensive quarter made up of Pete Millar, Joel Dudley, teen star Barney Aston and Forrest himself proved a formidable opponent for Epsom, as the player/coach explained: “We moved the ball around well at the back, I thought the defensive unit set up really well throughout the game and we didn’t let much through.”
Forrest was also keen to emphasise the importance of his midfield trio of Tom Millar, Simon Hurry and in particular, Jamie Watling: “Watto was sensational, he sat in that deeper midfield role and helped out the defense positionally and in moving forwards. He was absolutely brilliant, he ran the game alongside both Tom Millar and Simon [Hurry].”
Epsom 2 – 3 Jersey
HT Score: 1-1
Player of the Match: Ben Heelis
The first 15 minutes of pressure eventually fell the islanders way. Forrest claimed the ball at centre back and pushed up field, slotting the ball forward to one of Jersey’s brightest young stars, Ben Heelis, who took one touch before smashing the ball into the roof of the net on his reverse, a strike Forrest described as “unbelievable” and “highlight of the match”.
Their advantage was wiped out however, when a controversial short corner was conceded, which led to a penalty flick which was tucked away passed goalkeeper Tyler McGlinchey.
Half time came with scores tied at one apiece.
“They were a good side,” Forrest continued, “it was a well poised game at that point, they were a young outfit with some skillful players, especially in the midfield, but we rallied as a group. We knew we were better than them and we knew we could get something out of the game.”
As the second half started, Jersey came out flying as expected, with a good chance falling to Tom Millar following a deflection, but the score remained level.
The back and forth match was broken open again thanks to another one of the junior stars, this time Barney Aston.
The talented young defender broke up the right hand side, using good skill to his advantage to win a corner. The resulting corner was converted from the top of the D by Pete Millar, pushing it low and hard into the bottom right hand corner to give the islanders the lead again.
As time ran down, a killer blow fell with just five minutes to go. As the hosts Epsom found their rhythm and Jersey were forced to defend well, the scores were evened up again at 2-2 as the hosts grabbed an equaliser Forrest described as a “soft goal to concede”.
“That was a frustrating goal for us to concede,” said Forrest, “but we rallied again and showed real strength and character. We knew we had to keep pushing and we snatched back possession with just minutes to go.”
Pete Millar took the ball up the right before finding another of the teenage superstars of this unit, Ed Hodgson. The tricky and skillful Hodgson weaved his way passed several defenders, before slapping the ball hard into the D.
As the ball bounced around, it fell kindly to the expectant Jamie Bolton-Grange who, showing remarkable composure, remained calm to steer the ball low under the goalkeeper and snatch the lead back with just three minutes remaining.
Forrest noted: “We were staring down the barrel of penalty shuffles, but Jamie’s goal was massive. There was still time on the clock and they had two or three massive chances in the last couple of minutes, as well as Tyler [McGlinchey] making a great save to keep us in front. When the final whistle blew we were all over the moon.”
Jersey Men’s next Tier 2 Cup contest will be drawn soon and is scheduled for early in the new year.
Jersey Island Men’s squad: Tyler McGlinchey, Barney Aston, Pete Millar, Joel Dudley, Tom Louwe, Jamie Watling, Simon Hurry, Alex Anthoine, Tom Millar, Ben Heelis, Ed Hodgson, Tiaan Kruger, Jamie Bolton-Grange
Player/Coach: Robbie Forrest
Manager: Richard Gilpin
