WHILE there were a handful of local matches taking place across the Rathbones Jersey Hockey leagues, it was the various junior teams who took centre stage on the mainland.
Jersey U16 Girls travelled to face Guildford Lightning and immediately made their intentions known, with attacking opportunities aplenty down the line by Tallulah Spry.
Those in red held possession of the ball for the majority of the first-half.
Jersey’s Farrah Firby had an excellent attack into the D where she cleanly pushed the ball into the corner of the goal to give the Islanders the lead.
Guildford responded well after the break to score early.
This did not deter Jersey as they were awarded a short corner, in which they scored due to an excellent slip back to the injector Poppy Hughes, who then deflected it into the goal.
From then on Jersey’s game management and excellent defending from captain Molly McKeon, Bella Woodruff and Kate Follain prevented any way through for the Guildford attack to grind out the 2-1 victory.
Meanwhile, the Jersey U16 Boys were also in Guildford, fighting for a spot in the third round of the English Hockey Tier 2 Championship.
It proved a double success for Jersey sides in Guildford as the Islanders produced a stunning second-half performance to defeat the quality opposition 3-1.
Trailing 1–0 at break, despite having the better of the chances, the boys immediately set a positive tone at the start of a second-half underpinned by intensity and high-tempo hockey.
Jersey quickly drew level after a neat switch of play found Ed Hodgson high on the right side, who beat two players, cut in from the right, and unleashed a fierce backhand into the bottom corner.
Guildford’s efforts to respond were often thwarted by Zane Simpson, who produced a fine all-round display of interceptions, tackles and distribution deep in midfield and it wasn’t long before Jersey took the lead.
The energetic Jake Le Boutillier reacted well to a rebound from a short corner before shooting powerfully off his back foot, leaving the keeper with precious chance.
Hugo Gomersall and Harry Cutting provided a solid platform at the back and their improved ball pace meant Jersey continued to create space on both flanks which Louis Bell and Beau Johnstone-Scott both used to good effect.
One such passage of play saw Johnstone-Scott play a long ball down the right-hand channel which looked a lost cause until Le Boutillier’s used his pace to collect and drive into the Guildford D.
Riley Brennan had read the play superbly and his lung-busting surge from midfield saw him perfectly placed to receive a composed pass from Le Boutillier and slam home first time to give Jersey a two-goal cushion.
Jersey showed great composure to close out the last 15 minutes without giving Guildford hope of getting back into the match.
Captain Oliver Ferguson, who had produced a mature performance in midfield, was delighted with his team’s performance: “The team’s reaction to going behind was excellent and we came out full of energy in the second-half and got the result we deserved.”
Jersey Walkers U14 Boys meanwhile, had a huge double-header against Reigate Priory and East Grinstead.
Against the former, Jersey started brightly, keeping possession and maintaining width and penetration.
The first move of the match saw Willoughby Spry latch onto a precise through-ball to slot home.
Jersey kept up the pressure and Sam Le Boutillier was on hand to tee up Spry for his second.
The attacks kept coming and Le Boutillier turned finisher with the first of his brace on the day.
Reigate showed promise going forward, but the Jersey defence held strong, with Indie Simpson composed in the tackling and finding passes to release pressure.
In the second-half Reigate had a couple of penalty corners that were well dealt with but it was Jersey who continued to assert, as Henry Rigby, on up front for Spry, added to the lead.
Reigate kept coming and were awarded a penalty flick.
Theo Bell in Jersey’s goal stopped the initial flick, turning the ball on to the post. However, the rebound hit the back of his stick and found its way into the goal.
The Islanders answered, with further goals from midfielders Rufus Aston, Nat Winchester and Charlie bore to seal an 8-1 victory and cap a great all-over squad performance.
Jersey then faced East Grinstead in the triangular tournament decider, and started well following the dominant win.
The mainlanders held firm early, but the tactical superiority of Jersey shone through.
With ten minutes left in the first-half, Le Boutillier rifled home a well-constructed opportunity from close range to put Jersey 1-0 up and silence the partisan crown.
The Islanders had to dig in to repel the East Grinstead response, which they did with aplomb, before a clever counter freed Le Boutillier into space before a clinical reverse stick doubled the scoreline.
The visitors retained their structure and earned a third following a wonderful piece of interplay put Hern through into the D.
The second-half saw a spirited display from East Grinstead. The Jersey defence and midfield held strong, with Theo Bell excelling in goal, Herbie Hampton and Jackson Reddington growing in confidence and showing some classy touches in defence, and Thomas Cotillard controlling things in the midfield.
The icing on the cake came as the clock ticked down, with a quick flurry of passes resulting in Rufus Aston jinking his way through the East Grinstead defence and drilling an unstoppable cover drive into the goal.
Back on home soil, there was a pair of Men’s Division 1 matches on show as Leopards stormed to a 4-1 victory at the expense of Hautlieu.
Sam Dunstan, Barney Aston, Steve Moore and Jake Le Boutillier scored for the victors, while Hautlieu’s lone goal came from Adam Smith.
Elsewhere, OV Convicts kept up their hot start to the season, with a comprehensive 6-3 win over VC 1st XI, behind a pair of braces from Rhys Thomas and Charlie Reid, while Sam Habin and Anthony Kay.
Meanwhile, in Division 2, Victoriana ran riot 7-1 over VC Colts.
Henry Johnson (2), Euan McArthur (2), Harry Brooks, Louis Bell and Jordan Ramsey were all on target, as was Zane Simpson.
Jersey Ladies 1st XI fell 1-3 against Affinity JHC Lions, as Sascha Benson Cooper scored twice, along with Jake Le Boutillier.
Elsewhere, there were a pair of fixtures in the Ladies divisions.
Division 1’s JTC RWB and Pastella Jersey Ladies drew 1-1, as Lisa Grant and Kerry Rogers were on target respectively.
It was also a 1-1 tie in Division 2, as Walkers Eagles, Lex Helmholt-Kneisel’s strike was cancelled out by Nomads’ Helen Maletroit.
