BEAUTIFUL sunshine graced the pitch as the JFA Combination leagues kicked off on Saturday, much to the delight of Jersey football fans.
Premiership 1 action saw six of the eight teams clash.
Jersey Wanderers did not look lost as they overcame a depleted St Peter side 2-1, while the youth-driven St Paul’s showed their class, getting the better of the in-form newcomers, Madeira FC, by the same scoreline.
The other Premiership game placed the reigning champions St Clement against the newly-promoted Sporting Academics.
Despite a strong opening from the Accies, the Anchors dominated their maiden league game, scoring an impressive five goals to the Accies’ zero.
The Anchors’ first-team coach, Glenn Le Moignan, reflected: “We executed our plan perfectly.
“We knew the Accies were going to be a tough test as they have some very good players all around the park.
“It was all about breaking them down and pressing them hard.
“It took us about half an hour to get through them for the first goal, but after that I think we took complete control.”
Both teams remained even for the first 35 minutes of play, consistently trading blows and probing each others’ defences.
The Accies were however giving the Anchors too much space in the midfield, allowing the St Clement’s attack to press forward without meeting much resistance.
Minute 36 saw the Anchors claim first blood, as an uncontested Louis Guillard was able to deliver a quality ball onto the boot of new-signing Seaney McColgan, just outside of the box, who hammered one down the middle and through the gloves of Accies keeper Pars Yuksel.
Evidently, when it rains it pours for the St Clement’s side.
Shortly after their first successful effort, danger-man Jay Dos Santos was able to gracefully guide the ball into the bottom corner of the Academic’s net to make it two.
Moving into the second half, St Clement appeared to be content with their 2-0 lead, safely playing the ball around the back of their half and keeping possession.
However, when the Accies looked to move up and pressurise the seemingly-defensive play of the Anchors, experienced midfielder Darren Coyle sent a long and lofted through ball over the forward-pressing Accies heads.
The clever play provided Daniel Tostevin with a golden opportunity on goal, which he was able to send convincingly into the postage stamp of goalkeeper Yuksel’s right-hand corner, leaving him beside himself on the floor.
At this point, the Accies “Crazy Gang” were looking flustered.
Two desperate tackles were required to halt the Anchors’ offensive plays.
One caused some controversy after referee Paulo Franco offered the St Clement squad a free kick just outside the Accies box, despite the protestation of the trailing team claiming the tackle was good.
While the other tackle earned the lone defender a yellow card, as he was forced to choose between a booking or another potential goal for the lads in yellow.
Unsurprisingly, this time there were no complaints from the Accies.
The Anchors fourth came off the back of a fantastic interception from Jack Lumsden, catching the Accies off guard.
A skilful delivery from Lumsden set up the left foot of Bruno Da Silva inside of the Accies box.
Da Silva also played a vital role in the fifth for St Clement, as he aptly used the width on the right wing to find McColgan in the box, who subsequently slotted the ball through the defenders and into the back of the opposition’s net.
Overall, a dominant showing from the defending champions.
Even without the likes of supreme goal machine Karl Hinds on the field, the Anchors proved they have plenty of offensive options.
“We had four different scorers today, which was pleasing considering Karl’s [Hinds] absence,” said Le Moignan.
“He’s on holiday at the moment, hence his absence from today’s game.
“Obviously if you take Karl out of any team it’s going to have an impact.
“But the Bulls might well come calling sometime down the line, so it’s in our best interest to prepare to need other goalscorers.
“Still, as shown today, we have the fire-power to do well, even if he’s not here.”
In other Premiership 1 activity, the Wanderers-Crosskeys clash saw goals from Renato Geraldo and Kyle Stratford, securing Wanderers manager Chris Gill’s first three points, despite the best efforts of Bradley Russell, who put one in the net for St Peter.
Additionally, as St Paul’s played host to Madeira FC, a closely-contested bout meant the scorecard stayed 0-0 until the Portuguese side opened the scoring in the second-half with an effort from Joao Sousa.
However, last-minute heroics from Callum Gilroy and Stanley Dunne gave the Saints the goals they needed to claim the three points.
Alongside all of the Premiership action, Championship 1 had all six of its teams on the pitch.
The league of Reserves sides saw defending champions Grouville fall to St Clement with a single goal from Stewart Daynes versus the two from Lucas Foreman and Matthew Rawlings.
St Brelade defeated Jersey Wanderers 5-1 with two goals from Max Rogers, one from Jack Gibson and a couple of own goals, versus one from Bradley Russell to give Wanderers their lone goal on the day.
Meanwhile, St Ouen decimated the side St Peter put out, with a hat-trick off the bench from Maximillian Simon, braces from Ben Cesar, Jake Prince and singles from Ricky Figueira, Sebastian Amtrobus and Alexander Le Blanq leading to a substantial 12-0 triumph.
