ALONGSIDE the epic conclusion of the Sylvia Spinola Memorial Cup on Sunday, which saw Rozel Rovers Women crowned champions, the past weekend delivered a flurry of football action across the local leagues and cup competitions.
Saturday saw a closely contested Wheway Cup quarter-final, where Jersey’s Grouville edged out Sarnian’s St Martin’s AC Guernsey in a 2-1 victory at home.
Goals from Robert Martins-Figueira and Blake Derbyshire secured the victory for the men in blue, while George Mason managed a late consolation for the visitors.
Grouville’s triumph sends them through to face St Clement in the semi-finals early next year, a mouth-watering prospect for local football fans, who will probably have earmarked the two teams as Premiership 1 league favourites.
The La Riche Trophy also delivered fireworks, and this round proved no different, as Madeira FC demolished St Paul’s Reserves 7-1.
As always, the dangerous duo of Henrique Cristovao (31’) and Diogo Velosa (36’) led the charge for Madeira, netting the first two goals of the match.
Clife Silva (40’), Joao Sousa (59’), Pedro Alves (67’) and Daniel Figueira (79’) also contributed to the remarkable team-wide display, before Louis Robinson clawed back a consolation goal for St Paul’s in the 85th minute.
Alas, Silva was not about to let the Saints finish on a high as he scored once again just two minutes later, finalising the match’s tally.
With this result, Madeira will meet Sporting Academics in the next round, a team that also progressed after a walkover against Jersey Wanderers Reserves.
Championship 2 provided some entertainment, with a thrilling encounter between St John Reserves and St Ouen C, ending in a nail-biting 4-3 victory for the latter.
Shane Carre was the star for St Ouen, bagging himself a hat-trick (25’, 60’, 63’), with James McMillan adding his goal at 55 minutes.
Scott Simpson grabbed a first-half goal for St John, before an inspired comeback effort from 4-1 down, as Kieran Rowcliffe (70’) and Jamie Clayton (80’) forced a tense finish, but ultimately it was in vain.
Elsewhere, Sporting Academics Reserves displayed their prowess, defeating Rozel Rovers Reserves 4-0 thanks to strikes from Diogo Franca (6’), Kyle Devenish (21’), Liam Irwin (71’) and Filipe Franca (84’).
Meanwhile, Grouville C continued their strong start to the season, overcoming Trinity 3-1 to remain at the top of the table.
Kyle Gordinho (10’), Reece Sarre (17’) and Calvin Antunes (68’) eclipsed the sole successful effort from Trinity’s Bryan Kiama (69’), ensuring those in green will need to keep searching for their first positive result of the young season.
Elsewhere, Premiership 2 saw St Ouen take down Rozel Rovers 4-1, with Elliott Hughes scoring a brace (5’, 32’), alongside contributions from Simao Oliveira (55’) and Jack Steel (85’) drowning out the effort of Stan Heynes for the Rovers.
In a tighter match, Dragoes de Jersey secured a narrow 1-0 victory over First Tower United, with Jose Rodrigues being the lone player to strike home to keep his side in the hunt at the top of the table.
Preceding their tight affair was a touching minute’s silence, honouring the accolades of the late Les Selkirk and Steve Dewhurst, who were former First Tower United players, as well former referee Dave Brunton, who also died recently.
St Ouen’s triumph means they join St John at the summit of the table with three wins and no losses, while First Tower are in the unfortunate position of being winless, much like Sports Club of Jersey and St Lawrence.
Finishing up Saturday’s line-up was the lone Over 35 Division match between Grouville and St Peter, which proved a high-scoring affair.
Groove’s veterans managed to secure their first full set of points this season at the Crosskeys’ expense, largely due to Stewart Daynes, who graced the scorecard four times throughout the game (5’, 25’, 42’, 73’).
Daynes’s tally alone would have been enough to seal the deal when compared to the singles from James Jones (13’) and Davide Pita (55’) on the other side, but Daniel Grills also put his name on the sheet bang on the hour mark; the game finished 5-2 in Grouville’s favour.
Sunday’s walking football action concluded the weekend round-up.
The Alexforbes & Hepburns Walking Football division saw St Paul claim their first point of the season courtesy of Simon Logan with a 1-1 draw against St John, who held level because of a Paul Sims goal.
Similarly, St Ouen and Portuguese FC of Jersey battled to a 1-1 stalemate, with Daniel Craven scoring for the former, and Stephen O’Brien for the latter.
However, the standout result came from First Tower’s players, in particular Gary Freeman (x4), Colin Cowey and Steve Moore, who dominated Grouville with a 6-2 victory, signalling their intent in the league as they nip at the heels of high-flying Trinity.
Danny Moisan scored both of Grouville’s goals.
