Jersey registered a fantastic win against Nottingham, their
third in succession in the Championship, scoring five tries within
the first hour to register their first league victory of
2014/15.
The result at Meadow Lane was a record-smashing one, with the
27-point margin way ahead of Jersey's best-ever at this level, the
win by 10 points away at Bedford in April (although the Islanders
couldn't quite exceed the 41 points scored that day). It was only
Jersey's fourth try bonus point in 48 Championship outings, with
two of those being gained in losing causes.
Jersey had a superb start, with just over a minute on the clock
Tommy Bell made a good run and had the strength to force his way
over, adding a conversion.
The penalty count went Nottingham's way in the first half and
Will Maisey's fist two attempts got his side back in touch (6-7)
before Bell struck again, this time with a kick over the home
defence which the full-back gathered and raced over, landing
another conversion.
Nick Haining's run and scoring pass to Drew Locke set up the
Islanders' third try, although Bell missed a straightforward
conversion, and two more Maisey penalties pulled his side back to
12-19. Bell was given two penalty shots of his own late in the
half, missing the first but landing the second to make it 12-22 at
the break.
Having scored after around a minute of the first half, Bell
managed the same again after the restart, stroking over a kick from
near the touchline.
Jersey moved clear just before the hour mark when Mark Foster
barged over after good work by the forwards, and then the ball was
fed wide for Nick Haining to touch down. Bell landed both
conversions and the Islanders were 27 points clear.
Nottingham were arguably the stronger side in the closing
stages, albeit that they were were out of sight. Jersey's main
attention turned to keeping their try-line intact, and after some
close shave this mission was accomplished, albeit for the loss of
Ignacio Lancuba in added time when the prop was given a yellow
card.
Bell was picked out by the BBC Radio Jersey commentary team as
man-of-the-match, having also won this award in the match against
Doncaster last weekend (pictured above with Nick Winsor of
match sponsor HSBC).
by TOM INNES
Nottingham: Billy Robinson; Liam O'Neill, Ed
Styles, Joe Munro, Ryan Hough; Will Maisey, Sean Romans; Campese
Ma'afu, Shaun Malton, Michael Holford; Toby Freeman, Dan Montagu;
Tom Calladine, Brent Wilson (capt), Paul Grant.
Replacements: Conor Carey, Jon Vickers, Rupert Cooper,
Matt Everard, Alex Smit, Jacob Knight, Corey Venus.
Jersey: Tommy Bell; Mark Foster (Grant Pointer
73), Drew Locke, Lewis Robling, Jack Burroughs; Jonny Bentley (Mark
McCrea 51), Nicky Griffiths (Joel Dudley 72); Ignacio Lancuba (YC
79), Martin Garcia-Veiga (Gareth Harris 60), Harry Williams
(Herriott 66); Pierce Phillips (Dave Markham 58), Alex Rae (capt);
Nick Haining (Williams 82), Ryan Hodson, Michael Noone (Kaho
63).
Referee: Andrew Jackson (RFU)
Attendance: 1,389
Half-time: 12-22
Scorers
Nottingham
Penalties: Maisey 4, 15, 25, 32
Jersey
Tries: Bell 2, 17, Locke 19, Foster 55, Haining 58
Conversions: Bell 2, 17, 55, 58
Penalties: Bell 38, 42
