WHILE most of the grassroots football in the UK was put on ice, for want of a better term – Jersey’s Combination leagues were in full flow over the past week, with matches taking place across seven divisions and two cups.
Pitches were sodden underfoot but the Island managed at least to avoid the sheets of ice that blanketed the UK and put paid to thousands of fixtures across the country.
Aside from the feature match in Premiership 1 between Grouville and St Brelade that ended two apiece, reported in depth in Monday’s JEP, there were two more key fixtures taking place in the men’s top flight.
Jersey Wanderers made the short journey across to St Peter with both sides firmly positioned in the relegation spots.
Wanderers were on three points with just one win in seven, while St Peter had only mustered a lone draw from the same number of games.
Still getting used to an entire new squad, following a mass exodus of players between last season and this, St Peter have fought admirably under trying circumstances.
However, Wanderers proved too strong on the day, easing to a comfortable 0-3 away win.
Harry Scott opened the scoring on 35 minutes, before Joshua Coutanche doubled the advantage just before half-time.
The latter would score again on 59 minutes, which would be the only goal in the second period.
The other fixture came between new boys Madeira, hosting the youngsters of St Paul’s.
The hosts sit just above the drop zone, while St Paul’s have shown plenty of firepower from a squad comprised primarily of teenagers.
In a high scoring affair, it was St Paul’s who proved dominant, en route to an emphatic 3-8 victory at Springfield Stadium.
Madeira opened the scoring in the first minute through Pedro Rosario, in an opening half that remained tight.
Ewan Brodie equalised on 14 minutes, before Conor O’Keeffe and Callum Gilroy made it 1-3 to St Paul’s.
Diogo Velosa struck on the stroke of half-time ahead of a second period that could go either way.
However, it was pure dominance from the youngsters, as Gilroy scored three more to add to his first-half goal and O’Keeffe secured his own hat-trick late on for a comprehensive win.
Meanwhile, in the Women’s Division, Guernsey FC Women continued their remarkable run of form in their first season in the Jersey league.
First up on a double-header day for the Sarnians came fellow league newcomers Sports Club of Jersey, who, despite a challenging start to life, have been on an upwards curve.
However, Guernsey have dominated the campaign so far and Sunday proved no different.
A Kirstie Marquis brace and singles from Gracia Van Zutphen, Isla Anderson and substitute Codie Le Flem helped the leaders to a 0-5 victory.
Such is the strength in depth for the Sarnians, they were able to change the line-up to face Jersey Wanderers just a couple of hours later, to win by an even bigger margin of 0-9.
Stars Calleigh Hedley and Chloe Ingrouille both scored four, along with a goal from Le Flem, who started from the off this time around.
The double success sees Guernsey extend their lead at the top, with seven wins from seven.
Elsewhere, the only all-Jersey affair taking place in the Women’s Division was St Peter against Rozel Rovers, with the latter enjoying a 3-1 victory.
Skye Da Silva, Ella Docherty and Emily Le Page all struck for the victors, while Soraya Da Conceicao grabbed St Peter’s lone goal.
There was just the one Premiership 2 fixture, in which Rozel Rovers crushed St Lawrence 7-1.
Substitute George Sheehy stole the show with an incredible hat-trick in the final ten minutes, while fellow sub Oskar Sibilski, Ned Dixon, Nathan MacDonald and Kyle Marcelino were also on target.
Joe Hogben grabbed the goal for St Lawrence, who still search for their first point of the season.
Meanwhile, in Championship 1, leaders St Ouen’s Reserves edged the battle of the top two, with a 1-0 win against Grouville Reserves.
Maximilian Simon’s goal proved the difference, on a day that saw both sides finish with ten men after red cards for Dan Durell (St Ouen) and Joshua Hinds (Grouville).
St Brelade Reserves came back from 1-2 down at half-time to win 3-2 against St Peter Reserves in the clash of the bottom two, which saw the victors jump ahead of their rivals and off the bottom.
Michael Hood scored twice, while Leighton Cavey grabbed the 65th minute winner.
St Peter’s scorers were Alex Kilpatrick and Ethan Rankin.
Elsewhere, in Championship 2, St John Reserves defeated St Paul’s Reserves 2-0 for their first points of the season, behind goals from Firas Eid and Daniel Stevens.
Also earning their first points of the season were Trinity, who defeated Rozel Rovers Reserves 3-0, with goals from Jayden Trevor, Will Howarth and George Sheehy.
In the O35s Division, St Ouen continued to dominate with an 11-0 win over St Peter, for their seventh win from seven.
Shane Carre scored a hat-trick, while Paul Banahan, James Styles and Vincent Gilbert all scored braces.
They would then dust themselves off just three days later for JFA Bowl action, with a gritty 1-0 win over St Peter Reserves.
Back to league action and Trinity O35s fell to St Lawrence O35s 3-2.
Samuel Fisher (2) and Scott Sale sealed the win, while Neil Spacie and Ian Crocker were on target for Trinity.
There was more O35s action in the Jayson Lee Memorial Trophy as Portuguese FC of Jersey lost 4-7 to St Clement.
Matthew Rawlings grabbed a hat-trick, while Kieran O’Neill (2), Andrew Sharp and Steven Wilkinson also scored.
Roberto Da Silveira had a great personal day for Portuguese, scoring three, with a goal off the bench for Braulio Vieira also.
The other game in the cup saw Rozel Rovers O35s ease past Grouville O35s 5-1, behind a pair of braces from Sam Habin and Paul Starkey, with a single from Jamie Lucas.
Cameron Gibb was the Grouville scorer.
In the Alexforbes & Hepburns Walking Football Division, leader Portuguese FC of Jersey cruised to an 11-0 win over Grouville.
Stephen O’Brien remarkably scored seven, while Sergio Candeias and Luis Bento had two apiece.
St John beat First Tower 4-2 behind a Jason Oeillet hat-trick and a Pedro Maia strike.
Steven Martin scored a brace for Tower.
In a tight affair, St Peter (no scorers inputted) edged past St Paul’s 2-1, despite Steven Cumming’s strike.
