COURTESY of a “dogged” performance in the final, St Clement lifted the inaugural Men’s Inter Parish Cup at Les Quennevais.
Tom Millar’s easterners edged out the “stand-out” side of the competition, St Brelade, by way of penalty shuffles after a hard-fought 2-2 draw in regulation.
St Brelade twice took the lead through goals from Adam Gower and Ben Heelis, but were pegged back in reply on both occasions with goals from the eventual victors through Tom Bolton and Patrick Filleul.
St Clement’s winning shuffle was dispatched by Robin Carnegie to lift his side to a 4-2 victory in the shuffles.
In an impressively supported event, eight teams took part in the men’s knockout competition, with over 120 players participating.
Despite the cup maintaining a competitive nature, Millar said it was much more about “inclusivity” for the sport locally.
He added: “During the quarter-finals we had a young junior in the line-up and also my dad, who filled in because we were short. He’s 69 years old and scored in that game.
“That was just one example of the inclusivity of the event and getting friends and families together over Christmas to enjoy a bit of social hockey.
“St Brelade had the stand-out team in the tournament due to the way the cards fell.
“Both teams had their chances to win in normal time, but we were very proud of the way we defended and equally St Brelade did very well to repel our efforts.
“Players represented the parish they live in or where their parents lived when you were born.
“We don’t really experience knockout hockey between the local sides, so that was a really nice change and something that most of those involved hadn’t tasted before.”
The idea of the new event was floated in the summer, inspired by what was Jersey’s oldest local football competition, the Trinity Shield.
First contested in 1895, this season has marked the end of the historic event, due to a lack of uptake from Jersey’s parishes.
The 2022/23 tournament contained just three teams, with St Saviour needing only one victory in the final to lift the shield.
Millar added: “We drew inspiration from the Trinity Shield. Obviously that was contested between parishes on Island and gave a real sense of pride for local footballers.
“We wanted a tournament that was aimed at everyone, not just the elite players.
“The turnout was astonishing over the Christmas period. We thought it might prove challenging to get people to commit over the festive break, but people got right behind it.
“There were players involved that are now based off-Island and, when they return to Jersey for Christmas, are unable to play in anything during their time here.
“The Inter Parish Cup gave them that platform to play and we were just really happy to see its first year be so well supported and enjoyed by all involved.”
Prior to the main event, there was a “Parish Plate Final” contested, which involved those teams knocked out at the quarter-final stage of the cup.
St Lawrence came out on top with a 2-0 win over St Peter.
