SATURDAY’S win by Jersey RFC was a victory for old-school defence, after keeping London Scottish Lions to just three points in a determined and dogged team performance at CoinShares Park.
Jersey welcomed the Lions on a sunny Saturday afternoon for the second consecutive first-versus-second clash in as many weeks, after their thrilling 31-29 win over Tunbridge Wells the previous weekend.
The Lions looked a motivated unit from the offset, and their early dominance throughout the majority of the first half proved as much.
From the first kick, the visitors looked to impose themselves on the league leaders. Tackles flew in hard, and plenty of chat could be heard by a certain few players keen to let the hosts know they were in for a fairly frosty Christmas welcome.
Jersey RFC 33
Tries: Ellis 40’, Owen 49’, Penalty Try 61’, Macfarlane 71’, 79’
Cons: Penberthy 49’, 71’, 79’
London Scottish Lions 3
Pens: Wray 13’
HT Score: 5-3
Attendance: 750
JEP Player of the Match: Huw Owen
If the first scrum of the match was anything to go off though, Huw Owen’s ferocious power to force a penalty was a sign of things to come.
First Half
The majority of the first half hour of the game came from the men in blue, a combination of powerful attacking play matched by an experienced and understanding defensive application.
Twice in the first ten minutes, Scottish looked like they were on the brink of opening the scoring, but the defensive unit in red were able to hold them at bay.
That was until the 11th minute however, when winger Bevan Biggs was sent to the bin for ten minutes after a giving away a cynical foul which required Scottish’s Frank Scott to be replaced with a head injury which, thankfully, he was ok from.
Scottish pressed their man advantage but, following several minutes of gruelling defensive work on their own try line, Jersey were eventually able to earn a penalty and clear the ball away to safety – it was clear this was going to be a tough afternoon for the hosts.
The score was opened after 15 minutes, as the hosts finally gained some scoreboard recognition for their early dominance. Earning a penalty on the Jersey 22, they opted to kick and Cameron Wray sent the ball through for an easy three points.
Little did the cheering visiting fans know this would be their only points of the afternoon.
At the time though, things looked to be getting even more difficult for the hosts, after captain Scott van Breda slid into a 50/50 on a loose ball and clattered into his opposing number for what, admittedly, looked a sore one.
The powerful South African would eventually be removed from the field after 23 minutes, leaving the hosts without their captain for the majority of the game.
However as one experienced player left, it was the youngest man in red who began to step up to the fold. Scrum half Jonty O’Sullivan has proved himself already in the red strip and the 17 year old began to impose his control on the game.
Backed up by some excellent touch kicking from Aaron Penberthy, Jersey began to gain back a bit of momentum, culminating in Jack Macfarlane forcing himself over the line, but deemed to have been held up by the referee, much to the dismay of many in red.
The Jersey scrum was once again proving an immovable force, much to the efforts again of that man Huw Owen.
Another burst of possession lead to the second yellow card of the half, this time for Scottish’s hooker Chris Rolfe clearly interfering from an offside position.
As the half nudged into added time, the hosts were finally able to break through, forcing the ball wide and finding the space through the extra man with Tom Ellis in the scoreboard corner touching down for a deserved score and, as the whistle blew, a 5-3 lead at the break.
It was as if the hosts had weathered the storm and taken the wind out of the visitors sails.
Second Half
As the second half started, Jersey looked immediately on top and they extended their lead just eight minutes in.
A swift break through the line down the right saw the ball into the hands of the pacey Mark Boarer. The eventual pressure on the try line gave Jersey’s monstrous pack the opportunity to press and Huw Owen was able to force his way over for a score deserved of his performance.
Penberthy was able to convert a smart kick from the right and Jersey had opened some daylight at 12-3.
Scottish hit back and would have put up a try of their own just moments later, but for a miraculous try saving interception to hold the ball up over the line.
Scottish looked frustrated, and their second yellow card came in the 57th minute as openside flanker Cormac McCracken too was sent to the bin for ten.
As the crowd began to call for it, it was eventually given and Jersey were awarded a penalty try just past the hour mark, much to the cheers of the onlooking supporters. The visitor’s defence was finally penalised for one too many errors and the hosts were now in a commanding position at 19-3.
As the match drew into the final 12 minutes, the ruthlessness of the men in red showed apparent, knowing the bonus point was available.
Jack Macfarlane entered the game as the club’s second highest scorer of the season, but also as a man sitting on 98 tries for the club in his illustrious career.
Come full time, he would have achieved his milestone, crossing the white line twice in the final ten minutes to reach a century of tries in a Jersey shirt – an outstanding achievement which the Scotsman confessed post match was “a cool wee milestone to hit!”
Consecutive conversions again from the trusted boot of Penberthy sealed the final score at 33-3 for the hosts, a deserved win and a commanding statement to the rest of the league ahead of their clash with Worthing next week before the Christmas break.
“It was another good battle,” Macfarlane continued, “they threw it all at us in the first half and we managed to soak it up well, then in the second half we really turned the screw and got on top of them. It feels great to have beaten the second placed team in the league two weeks in a row!”
Stand-in captain Scott van Breda also spoke post match, saying: “defensively, I thought we were unbelievable. To not give a team of their quality a single try is a serious effort and something we’re really proud of. They’ve taken try bonus points in every other game they’ve played except for us in both of our fixtures against them, otherwise they score tries for fun so that’s really pleasing.
“Second half the set piece went to work, the boys up front really went to work and it told in the end which is a really nice way to get things done and lay down a marker in that second half.
“We’re stoked with the final result, it was a proper hard game and I think the scoreline probably doesn’t fully reflect on Scottish with how good they actually were. They put us under a lot of pressure and if they had taken a couple of chances in the first half, who knows, but we dug deep and once we go on top we were relentless and that’s an exciting trait to have.
“We have one more crucial match next week with Worthing, we want to keep that momentum going into the Christmas break, we’ll get the boys revved up for one more big push then we can enjoy a bit of down time with 13 from 13 in the wins colum.”
Jersey RFC 1st XV: [15-9] Aaron Penberthy, Mark Boarer, George Willmott, Dan Barnes, Bevan Biggs, Scott van Breda (c), Jonty O’Sullivan [1-8] Huw Owen, Jack Macfarlane, Jack Higgins, Cam Keys, Max Ayling, Tom Ellis, Euan Spencer, Jerry Sexton Replacements: Joe Ridgway, James Guyatt, Joe Munns
London Scottish Lions 1st XV: [15-9] David Heavey, Callum MacTaggart, Cameron Wray, Fabian Thwaites, Fergus Chapman, Aaron McLelland, Ben Molloy [1-8] Michael Baldock, Chris Rolfe, Frank Scott, Mark Bright, Byron Leach, Joe Emson (c), Cormac McCracken, Lachie Lowick Replacements: Ross Currie, Jack Parkhurst, Angus Troop
Regional 1 South Central
