Jersey had a tough afternoon against a London Welsh side who
seem to be hitting peak form ahead of the end-of-season
play-offs.
The Oxford-based Exiles asserted themselves after a slow start
which saw Jersey take a surprise lead thanks to a try by Drew
Locke.
The home team, who had struck first with an Alex Davies'
penalty, regained the lead thanks to a powerful try by Joe Ajuwa
and another score from Tyson Keats (pictured below), and
were 17-7 in front at the break.
As in a number of recent matches, the second half was 40 minutes
to forget for the Islanders, with the game quickly being taken out
of their reach. First hooker John Quill scored from a rolling maul,
then Jersey's Mark McCrea was sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on;
seconds later a quickly-tapped penalty led to Matt Corker crashing
over, and before Jersey had their 15th man back on the pitch, Quill
scored an identical try to his first, and the game was up at
38-7.
To their credit Jersey were able to stem the tide in the final
quarter, conceding just one more score in spite of having another
10 minutes short-handed when Locke was banished. The hosts' sixth
try was claimed by Toby L'Estrange who broke through and had the
pace to reach the corner, converting his own try. Otherwise Jersey
held firm and at least had the consolation of keeping the score
below the 54-14 win achieved by the other promotion favourites,
Bristol, in February at the Memorial Stadium.
Bristol and Welsh will actually meet in a Good Friday show-down
at the Mem, which should determine who goes into the play-offs as
table-toppers. Bristol regained their lead at the top by 7pm thanks
to a 24-33 bonus-point win at Moseley in the televised game.
Of more concern to Jersey is the bottom of the table, with the
lead over bottom-placed Ealing Trailfinders reduced yesterday from
eight to just three points. This was thanks to a thrilling win for
the West London side, who held on to defeat Nottingham 37-35.
The bottom three in the Greene King IPA Championship and their
remaining games stands as follows:
London Welsh: Toby L'Estrange, Joe Ajuwa, Tom May, Hudson
Tonga'uiha, Nick Scott, Alex Davies, Tyson Keats, Alec Hepburn,
Nathan Morris, Paddy Ryan, Will Spencer, Matt Corker, Mitch Lees,
John Quill, Daniel Browne. Replacements: Richard Thorpe
for Lees (35mins), Nathan Trevett for Hepburn (51mins), Kevin Davis
for Morris (51mins), Cai Griffiths for Ryan (51mins), James Lewis
for Tonga'uiha (51mins), Ben Pienaar for Spencer (55mins),
Liam O'Neill for Davies (57mins).
Jersey: Jack Burroughs, Grant Pointer, Drew Locke
(YC 68), Mark McCrea (YC 45), Ed Dawson, Aaron Penberthy, Joel
Dudley, Sam Lockwood, Elvis Taione, Nick Selway, Nick Campbell,
David Markham, Joe Buckle, Ryan Hodson (C), Ben Maidment.
Replacements: Tom Brown for Maidment (47mins), Nicky
Griffiths for Dudley (55mins), David Bishop for Pointer (57mins),
Sean McCarthy for Lockwood (59mins), Luke Stratford for Taione
(64mins), James Voss for Markham (64mins). Replacement not
used: Tom Fidler
London Welsh scorers
Tries: Quill (2), Ajuwa, Keats, Corker, L'Estrange
Cons: Davies (4), L'Estrange
Pens: Davies
Jersey scorers
Try: Locke
Con: Penberthy
Referee: Greg MacDonald
Half-time: 17-7
Attendance: 1,082
Man-of-the-match: Toby L'Estrange
