JERSEY reached the semi-final of the London Indoor Regional hockey tournament at Whitgift School in Croydon on Saturday but were beaten 4-2 by Old Cranleighan HC.
The result matches the Islanders’ best performance at the annual event, which witnesses the best 10 teams in the region battle for a single qualifying place for England Hockey’s National Super 6s Division 2.
In the group stage, Jersey began the day with a 4-1 reverse against National League outfit Teddington, and then battled to a 1-1 draw with Croydon and Whitgift to keep their hopes of qualification alive.
As the Reds grew into the tournament they registered their first victory – a 4-2 win over Wapping – to leave a mouth-watering final group stage match against Purley Walcountians to play.
Purley had eliminated Jersey at the semifinal stage two years earlier – a match decided on penalty shuffles following a 1-1 draw – but the Islanders exacted some revenge with a convincing 5-2 win.
Having only had around half an hour to recover before their semi-final, Jersey were slow to start the knock-out tie, and found themselves trailing early on. As the Islanders flooded forward in search of goals, Old Cranleighans slowly turned the screw and eventually booked their place in the final.
“It was a great day of hockey,” Jersey captain Tom Millar said.
“This tournament has national league guys playing in it, and also teams which have been training hard on the specifics of indoor hockey for weeks if not months.
“We don’t get huge exposure at this level so it’s a great opportunity for our guys to test ourselves against some really quality players.”
He added: “It’s an incredibly tough tournament and only one team gets to win and qualify for the next stage. We had a couple of brilliant results – the win against Purley was particularly good – but ultimately we would like to go on and win it. That’ll be our goal when we head back again next year.”
Jersey: Tom Millar (c), Adrian Noon, Robbie Forrest, Bill Millar, Jamie Bolton, Jonny Haynes, Johnny Kinder
Player/coach: Peter Millar
Manager: Richard Gilpin
