EIGHT goals for a pair of home sides made it a perfect afternoon of hockey at Les Quennevais, as Jersey reached two EH Tier-2 Championship quarter-finals in one swoop.
The Island’s top ladies pushed Ashford aside with a 4-0 triumph before the men edged past Woking with victory in a sudden-death shootout.
The second contest of the day was a hearts-in-mouths affair, with Jersey coming back from 4-2 down in the final seven minutes.
Even captain Tom Millar admitted he believed his side were heading out of the competition when Woking bagged their fourth – and with that a lost chance to face Guernsey in the last-eight.
But he then flicked home a late, late equaliser to send the tie into penalty shuffles, which ended after six rounds, at 5-4, when his brother, Peter, scored.
‘It’s great for the crowd, but it’s not good for my nerves,’ said Tom Millar.
‘Overall, looking at the balance of the game I felt we were good enough to win and we were frustrated at 2-2. We had loads of possession and loads of chances. It just was one of those days where short-corners didn’t go to plan.’
Discussing their prize – an away date in Guernsey for a spot in the semi-finals – Millar added: ‘We’ve had some good runs recently in this competition and they’ve had some great runs [winners in 2016]. In my 15 years playing for Jersey we’ve only played them once in the cup, and this one is a quarter-final. I’m sure they’ll have a big crowd for it.’
Earlier, Simon Watling’s ladies side set up an away quarter-final of their own – at Old Georgians – despite not being at their best.
‘If I’m honest I think the scoreline flatters us a bit,’ said Watling. ‘Going into the later rounds we know we will need to improve.
‘It was a big day with the double-header and the girls were nervous early on. It was a bit chilly too and it took a while to warm up. When we settled we kept the ball a bit better, though, and after we got a couple of goals ahead things got a little bit more comfortable.’
The ladies took their tally to 12 goals in two cup games, and they are yet to concede.
