Jersey saw victory agonisingly snatched away in the final play
and the first Championship match of 2014/15 finished in a 22-22
draw.
Moseley's Drew Cheshire claimed his second try of the match at the
death and home kicker Ollie Thomas held his nerve to land the
conversion which tied the scores.
The result felt like a defeat to the visitors who were in control
for most of the match but were punished when they lost control of
the match in the closing stages, suffering two yellow cards and
conceding 19 points in the final quarter.
Thomas gave the hosts an early lead with a penalty, but Tommy Bell
then struck three times for Jersey to give his team a half-time
lead which could have been larger if some spells of pressure had
led to a try after two close-range attacking line-outs.
In the second half Bell added an early penalty and Jersey then
took a commanding 3-19 lead when Sam Lockwood forced his way over
from close range [this try was originally credited to Nick Haining]
and Bell converted.
The first yellow card was for hooker Martin Garcia-Veiga after
approximately 50 minutes and Jersey suffered during his absence,
conceding 12 points - Neil Mason broke through for a try and then
after a loss of possession Cheshire hared up the right and beat
three attempted tackles to score.
Bell was able to stretch his side's lead but Jersey were still not
out of range - Moseley attacked and skipper Ryan Hodson was
sin-binned. As the hosts pressed forward, Cheshire was able to make
it through for the try that helped his side to the draw.
In other matches Doncaster beats Plymouth Albion 27-6 and London
Scottish defeated Rotherham 32-23. Friday's match saw a 19-10 home
win for Nottingham over Bedford while on Sunday Cornish Pirates
host Yorkshire Carnegie and Bristol are at home to Worcester.
Jersey's Welsh B&I opponents will be Carmarthen Quins, who
sealed qualification for pool 5 alongside Jersey, Plymouth and
Leinster A with a 37-13 win over Llandovery. The Quins will come to
Jersey for the opening game of the pool on October 11th.
MOSELEY: Carter (Ryan, 78), Cheshire, King
(Penn, 53), Owen, Armstrong, O Thomas, Brown; Warren
(Hobbs-Awoyemi, 60), Caves (Tolmie, 55), Voisey (Thorp, 60),
Charlton, Powell (Dacres, 75), Siggery, Carpenter (capt, Thomas,
64), Mason.
JERSEY: Bell, Foster, Locke (McCrea, 67),
Robling, Dawson, Bentley, Glynn (Griffiths, 69); Lockwood
(Saenz-Lancuba, 59), Garcia-Vega (YC 54, Harris, 55), Williams
(Herriott, 62), Phillips, Markham, Haining (Rae, 53), Hodson (capt,
YC 78), Kaho (Noone, 53).
Referee: Tom Foley
Attendance: 976
Half-time: 3-9
Moseley
Tries: Mason 60, Cheshire 63, 80
Conversions: Thomas 60, 80
Penalty: Thomas 8
Jersey
Try: Lockwood 48
Conversion: Bell 48
Penalties: Bell 15, 20, 29, 44, 69
