ST CLEMENT have one hand on their second league title in three seasons after beating fellow contenders and defending champions St Peter 1-0.
Inevitably, it was a Karl Hinds goal that settled matters and it came late on in what was an otherwise frantic and, quite honestly, poor head-to-head between the two best teams in the league.
Not that St Clement care one bit about the quality of the tussle. They got the three points they wanted and needed to put themselves clear at the top. Ten points now separate the two, though St Peter have a game in hand. But if St Clement were to throw it away now, even with a third of the season still to play, it would be the capitulation of the century.
Apart from the goal, though, there was little to write about. But I will do my best. St Clement started the sharper and didn’t give St Peter an inch to settle. The visitors were pragmatic at best in their approach, with both teams adopting a 3-5-2 formation which left little room for anything, let alone any imagination on the compact pitch dimensions.
The home side benefitted from having the better creative players, but St Peter brought the muscle and, though the champions were the more reactive of the two teams, neither side could get into any rhythm. The first effort on target only arrived after a good 40 minutes, when Harrison Moon’s header was easily saved by the St Clement goalkeeper.
What the game really needed was someone to just get a hold of the ball and slow the tempo down a tad. But that was never likely to happen and the match continued in its restless state.
The next shot on target would seal the win. Having to wait until the last five-to-ten minutes of the game for it to come was just an inconvenience. At half-time Karl Hinds implored his team to give him just one chance. One chance and he would win the game. He was as good as his word. And, to be fair, it was a goal of true quality. Jay dos Santos found some room down the left wing, crossed delightfully with the outside of the right boot, right on the head of Hinds, 12 yards out, who finished as well as he always does. Game won, but not without the enterprising JJ Lloyd helping almost double the lead at the death. A low cross to Hinds was swung in a little too hard, a low drive soon after well saved by Harry Gladdish.
“We’ve been performing at higher levels week on week. Today was always going to be a tight game. It was going to be defined by one moment of quality,” said St Clement manager Gary Tumelty.
“We would have been comfortable with a draw. The onus was on St Peter to win the game but we also know we’ve got good quality when we need it to score goals.
“We were having a debate as to whether to take Jay off because he’s just come back from injury and he has looked tired late on in games but with all the chances he creates if there was ever going to be another it would have come from him.”
Before the day, everywhere else in the Premiership 1 division was a five-way fight to avoid relegation. St Brelade had done themselves a massive favour and put four points between them and the rest, coming through with a 4-3 win in a thriller at Jersey Wanderers. Two goals from Logan McGhee, plus strikes from Ed Jeffries and Charlie Brennan gave St Brelade the vital win, while Archie Corbett, Luke Coutanche and an own goal kept up the fight for Wanderers.
Meanwhile, a 1-1 draw between St Ouen and St Paul’s did neither side any good, despite the latter having the helping hands of Jersey Bulls goalkeeper Euan Van Der Vliet and team-mate Joe Kilshaw. Indeed, both goals were scored by 16-year-olds whose prime focus is their GCSEs. Dylan Mcgee opened the scoring for St Ouen on 51 minutes, only for his goal to be cancelled out by Euan Brodie just six minutes later.
Joining the Premiership 1 next season for the first time in their history will be Madeira after they clinched promotion with an assured 6-2 win over First Tower United. However, Sports Club might be out of it after they fell to a 3-2 defeat against Rozel Rovers.
Sporting Academics moved up into second place with a 3-0 win at bottom side St Lawrence. Barry Keith, James Walsh and Philip Quinn scored the goals.
Strikes from Nathan Davies and Harry Ecobichon ensured Grouville Reserves’ safe passage into the semi-finals of the JFA Bowl with a 2-1 win at St John’s expense.
In the Championship 1 division, St Brelade Reserves beat Rozel Rovers Reserves 3-2. Ross Davison scored twice for St Brelade ahead of a late winner from Tom McAlister. Meanwhile, St Ouen Reserves booked their place in the semi-finals of the Touzel Trophy with a 2-1 win over St Peter Reserves.
There were big celebrations for Trinity in the Championship 2 division after they earned their first win of the season, beating Grouville C 3-2. Pedro de Abreu, Tom Richards and Aarron Scott got the goals that got them their first three points, though strikes from Tony Pessego and Kian Planner kept them on their toes.
In the Over 35 Division Grouville beat St Lawrence 3-2.
