THE first sun seen for some time brought some red-hot action at Le Boulivot, as JFA Premiership 1 leaders Grouville battled out an intense 2-2 draw with St Brelade.
Entering the game undefeated, Grouville would have hoped to extend their lead over defending champions St Clement with a win.
However, Gary Freeman’s St Brelade side have been in superb form themselves after a difficult start to the season, and it was The Fish who started the game on the front foot.
Despite the lovely weather, previous rain had rendered the playing surface extremely slippery, resembling a rugby pitch by full-time.
It was clear from the first couple of minutes that tiki-taka football was going to be impossible on the surface, and what ensued was not the prettiest game of football played this season.
Despite this, the visitors looked composed and it was they who offered up the game’s first big chance, but for a strong right hand from Grouville’s Garry Lloyd, with the follow-up strike magnificently blocked on the line by the returning defender Connor Lloyd.
Despite St Brelade’s early dominance, it was the home side who opened the scoring after 15 minutes against the run of play.
In what was their first real clear chance, swift passing in the middle created space to release Jack Da Silva who slotted past Tyler Quinn.
Although holding a slim lead, it was Lloyd in the Grouville net who was keeping his team in it with a string of solid saves.
But the visitors did finally get past Lloyd in the 26th minute thanks to Ryan Le Cornu’s curling strike from the edge of the box.
The men in red would walk in at half-time with a deserved lead, however, after young gun Will Yates made it 2-1 in the 37th minute with a beautiful curler into the top corner.
St Brelade manager Gary Freeman said: “I was really pleased the way we played first-half, I think we probably should have gone in one or two more ahead.
“Credit to Grouville, they’re a good team. Second-half they came out strong and dominated for long periods, so I think 2-2 was probably a fair result in the end.”
Freeman’s captain Declan O’Connell added: “I thought we were brilliant in the first-half, it’s a shame we couldn’t quite kill the game off early, we could have been more clinical in front of goal and we allowed Grouville a chance to get back into it.”
Grouville’s Edgar Da Costa chimed in, adding: “First-half we never got going. St Brelade have a really strong squad and we couldn’t afford to let them get on top like that.
“We did manage to get the early goal, but we were unable to build on it and before you knew it, we were going in at half-time 2-1 down.
“Half-time couldn’t have come soon enough for us to be honest. We weren’t really competing, so we went in and changed it up a bit and it showed come second-half. We were much more dominant in possession and were battling and put St Brelade on the back foot, a bit just like they did to us in the first-half and eventually we got the equaliser and could have actually scored a few more to pinch it, I thought.”
Stepping out for the second-half, Grouville looked like a side with a point to prove.
As conditions worsened under foot, so did tempers, with some poor challenges and yellow cards brandished to both sets of players.
Grouville pushed and their reward finally came in the 57th minute for that man again, the league top scorer, Harrison Moon. Beautifully slotted through, Moon was too strong for his defensive counterpart and passed the ball through the keeper to square the game.
The last half an hour passed in a blaze of end-to-end play, but with neither team able to snatch the win.
The full-time whistle eventually came, with both sides probably feeling they had claims on all three points.
O’Connell said: “We were a bit disappointed walking off with a point, but stepping back, we, know this is a positive.
“If you’d told us at the start of the season we’d be coming to places like Grouville and upset with a point, I’d snap your arm off.
“Credit to Gary and the coaches for what they’re building here. We’re getting stronger and stronger each week and we are going to keep pushing as high as we can. Hopefully we can enjoy a cup run as well, that starts next week, then next season look to really kick on.”
Manager Freeman concluded: “Where we are in the league at this stage, it’s good for our lads to see they can come here and compete with the better teams.
“We had a slow start to the season, but now the squad is really starting to come together. You can see we’re going into games with belief.”
Da Costa continued: “Our aim is to win the league this year, so we know we have to win as many games as possible. We could have won, but St Brelade are a tough side and we settle for one point and we still sit top of the league, unbeaten.
“Grouville have never won the Premiership, so we know what an amazing position we are in currently to create history.
“All we can do is continue to train hard and prepare for each match going full tilt.
“Knowing we could be the first Grouville side to achieve this is exciting, but comes with that added pressure.
“The group is growing a real strong bond because of this though and we will keep pushing as hard as we can to be there come the end of the season.
“There are some very special members of this club who we have lost in recent times, so we’re not just trying to win for ourselves, this club is a family and we want to do it for all of them.”
Grouville now move to four points clear of defending champions St Clement, but the Anchors still have two games in hand.
Grouville: Garry Lloyd, Brad Le Mercier, Callum Barry, Jack Griffin, Connor Lloyd, Edgar Da Costa, Jules Gabbiadini, Charlie Payn (c), Harrison Moon, Jack Da Silva, Logan McGhee.
Subs: Andre Nunes, Robert Martin Figuiera, Callum Coote, Charles Stewart.
Manager: Dave Fitton
St Brelade: Tyler Quinn, Rafa Dandrade, Kieran Queree, Declan O’Connell (c), Ben Le Rougetel, Ethan Kay, Connor Maher, Brad Stratford, Ryan Le Cornu, Will Yates, Kieran Lester.
Subs: Charlie Brennan, Brad Gallop, Jake Syvret.
Manager: Gary Freeman
