HEAD coach Paul Renton insists his embattled ten-men Jersey U21 team “were the better side”, despite losing their grip of the Ambassadeur Bowl for the first time since 2019.
In torrential rain at Footes Lane, Guernsey claimed a 2-1 victory over their short-handed visitors, behind goals from Jack Griffin and Keene Domaille, either side of Rai Dos Santos’ equaliser for the Caesareans.
Jersey were reduced to ten men in the first half, when Barry Beatson was dismissed for a second yellow card, consequently ruling him out of the U18 Muratti in the spring – a decision that Renton called “soft”.
Goalscorer Dos Santos also saw red after the final whistle.
“Even with ten men I thought we outplayed them [Guernsey],” said Renton. “We conceded two very poor goals. The first was self-inflicted. The second, it looked like JJ [Lloyd] was fouled in the build-up, but obviously the referee thought differently.
“As a team, we created enough chances to win the game. We have to convert better in front of goal.
“We had two shots cleared off the line in the first half and we hit the bar in the second.
“If a couple of those go in, then we win the game, even a man light.”
Preparation was far from ideal for the Jersey team, losing centre-back Sam Sutcliffe in the week of the Bowl through an injury sustained in a friendly.
Renton was also without fellow star Miguel Carvalho, who was training with Crawley over the weekend, and Leandro Vieira, due to his football commitments in Madeira.
“It’s been a tough few weeks in preparation,” he continued.
“We have lost a few players – one through injury and a couple through other footballing commitments.
“But I think that is testament to our strength in depth, looking at the performance they put in. We were still the better team and, on a different day, we would have won the game reasonably comfortably.”
The main flashpoint of the fixture was unquestionably Beatson’s sending off in the first-half.
He continued: “Barry was booked for a very soft push for his first yellow card. If you are booking someone for that, you would have to book 95% of the challenges made out there.
“The referee put himself in a very difficult position after that decision.
“But ultimately, he has refereed the game the way he saw it. I’m not moaning or complaining about it. I don’t agree with it, but at the same time, we need to understand he has a really tough job.
“The tough thing for Barry is now he misses his last chance to play the U18 Muratti. I don’t think that is fair. The crime certainly doesn’t fit the punishment in this instance.”
Despite the obvious initial disappointment in the Jersey camp, their head coach still thought there was plenty of positives to take home from Guernsey.
He added: “We had our backs against the wall.
“When Barry was dismissed, we then lost our main goal threat in Darryl [Mvalo] to injury.
“Credit to the ten that were left out there. We performed really well a man down.
“It’s a tough loss to take. We have put a lot of hard work into this match in the build-up and to get nothing out of it when you feel like you deserve to, it’s very disappointing.”
Jersey: Pierce Roche, JJ Lloyd, Damon Huckerby, Jack Lumsden, Charlie Brennan, Jamie Watling (c), Luke Coutanche, Barry Beatson, Darryl Mvalo, Seaney McColgan, Rai Dos Santos. Substitutes: Patrick O’Toole, Fergus Boyle, Connor Lloyd, Conor O’Keffe, Harry Gladdish.
