Jersey 1
Solomon 36
Gozo 0
Red card: Apap 75
JERSEY, who emerged victorious from their sizzling encounter with newcomers Gozo, go straight from the frying pan into the fire today when they take on Menorca in what could be the deciding match for a place in the semi-finals.
The Maltese came into the Games as an unknown quantity but it became immediately apparent that these were no walkovers. In fact, they were tough, tenacious and technical, and Jersey struggled to work them out in the opening exchanges but, once the game settled down, the Caesareans took control and showed their gold-medal credentials.
However, Sol Solomon’s first-half headed goal was all that separated them in the scoreline and, while Gozo remained in touch, tensions boiled over for the Mediterraneans when captain Ferdinando Apap was sent off deep in the second half. Before that, Apap had been a commanding and calming presence at the back but, when a foul by Jay Giles sparked a mini mêlée, Apap laid out the Jersey left-back with what looked like an elbow in full view of the referee and was duly dismissed.
The referee was then confronted by angry Gozo players, who appeared to manhandle him, while Solomon was also headbutted.
While the score remained 1-0, the game remained on a knife edge but Jersey remained cool and in control throughout. When the final whistle blew, the Gozitans were clearly unimpressed with what had happened, despite being cheered off the pitch by the Guernsey fans in the Corbet Field stand. Many players refused to shake Jersey’s hands and, after a quick change, they looked for a hasty retreat to their hotel.
For Jersey manager Elliott Powell, though, it was a job well done and he was fully confident his boys would recover for their next ‘group of death’ match with Menorca at Northfield at 2.30pm today.
‘It was a really tough game,’ he said. ‘We didn’t know anything about them but you could see in the warm-up that they were technically proficient and a physical team as well.
‘I think the game boiled over at points but I thought we showed discipline not to rise to it, even when Sol went down with the head. They just stuck at it and didn’t lose focus.’
Jersey had struggled to get a handle on the game in the first quarter of the match, as Gozo took the game to their opponents. Fast-paced, energetic and muscular, they also had the full support of the Guernsey fans, who had turned out in a fair number.
But Jersey were able to gain a measure of control and carried the most attacking threat with Lorne Bickley missing two good chances.
It was Bickley’s good work that led to the winning goal. A ball over the top to the target man drew the Gozo keeper, Steve Sultana, off his line. Bickley had the wherewithal to lay the ball out to Giles, who hit a pinpoint cross which was met by the head of Solomon.
‘One-nil doesn’t maybe look too glamorous but I don’t think Pierce [Roche] had any saves to make, so I thought it was pretty comfortable on the day,’ added Powell. ‘I think we could have had two or three in the first half, so I am really happy with the performance across the park and then getting four subs on the pitch as well. Superb.’
Jersey: Pierce Roche, Jonny Le Quesne, Jay Giles, James Querée (c), Luke Campbell, Joe Kilshaw, Adam Trotter (Toby Ritzema), Luke Watson, Francis Lekimamati (Miguel Carvalho), Sol Solomon (James Carr), Lorne Bickley (Karl Hinds)
Gozo: Steve Sultana, Ian Xuereb, Chris Mercieca, Ferdinando Apap, Kenneth Mercieca, Kurt Grima, Dejan Bogdanovic, Kurt Grima, Shaun Attart, Joseph Zammitt, Gennaro Hilli.
