Nottingham Rugby 19 Jersey 22
Greene King IPA Championship
by William Church
Jersey recorded one of their most significant away wins in the
history of the club with a dogged second half display against
Nottingham Rugby. - What a difference a year makes, as the visit to
Meadow lane in 2012 proved to be one of the hardest introductions
to life at this level and the heaviest defeat of the season.
Harvey made 4 changes to the starting line up with Griffiths
back in at scrum half, Locke at centre, Maidment in the back row
and Cooper for the unfortunate Dawson who was ruled out earlier in
the week with a muscle strain.
Nottingham kicked off and were quick to assert early pressure,
that was rewarded after only 3 minutes with a successful
penalty kick by Jarvis. Jersey held firm against more sustained
pressure and following a missed Nottingham penalty, were
given a shot at goal of their own on 19 minutes;
O'Connor stepped up, and made no mistake to level the
scores.
The status quo didn't last for long though as Nottingham
capitalised almost immediately after the restart from a line out in
the Jersey half, when Chapman finished off a move under the
posts that had cut through the Jersey centre pairing. Jarvis
converted and it was 10-3 to the hosts.
O'Connor reduced the deficit soon after with another penalty and
could have added a 3rd from out wide, but the right hand upright
intervened and the ball went wide. Nottingham then extended their
lead to 13-6 with another penalty as the clock ticked to half time,
but Jersey were increasingly easing themselves back into the game
and had time to convert another penalty of their own to make it
13-9 at the interval.
Jersey restarted the second half and whilst looking to
maintain their ascendency, Buckle contrived to get a yellow card
for a silly bit of indiscipline, and it looked as though the
tide was turning again in favour of the home side as they
extended the lead with another penalty.
Notts then were reduced to 14 players and O'Connor made no
mistake from 25 yards out to reduce the difference to 4 points
at 16-12.
Jersey then had their best move of the game as they broke
down the left, and when it looked as the opportunity may come to
nothing as a pass didn't go to hand they quickly regained
possession and recycled it for McCrea to cross the whitewash for a
converted try (16-19) and put Jersey into a lead that
they would never lose.
There was a further exchange of penalties (19-22) before
Griffiths then made a fantastic break with about 20 mins to
go, that could so easily have ended in a try before being hauled
down by the last man. Jersey won a penalty from the move, and
there then ensued the most dominant display of Jersey forward
strength of the game that saw no less than 8 scrum resets
within 10m of the Nottingham line which also saw 2 yellow cards for
Nottingham props Ma'afu and Bower, but that ultimately went
without reward.
Nottingham cleared and the balance of power then swung either
way as the clock edged towards the final whistle. Both sides made a
number of tactical replacements and Nottingham twice had penalty
chances during stoppage time within easy kicking distance to
level the scores, but on both occasion they opted for position
and a lineout and Jersey held on to close out a tense
finish and win 19-22.
Jersey: Pointer (Penberthy 47), McCrea, Locke,
Bishop, O'Connor, Griffiths, McCarthy, Taione (Felton 79), Young
(Selway 74), Campbell (Markham 80), Rae, Maidment (Voss 79), Buckle
(YC 42), Brown
Replacements not used: Fidler, Williams
Nottingham: Savage, Morris, Styles, Munro,
Chapman, Jarvis (Shaw 60), Romans, Ma'afu - YC 63 (Calladine 84),
Vickers, Holford - YC 47 (Lynn 77), Keough (Burton 81), Montagu,
Cooper (Lynn 62) (Bower 65 - YC 68), Wilson, Calladine (Walker
69)
Replacements not used: Williams, Lee Everton
Referee: Ross Campbell
Attendance: 1,562
Man of the match (Jersey): O'Connor
Half time: 13-9
Scorers
Nottingham Rugby
Try: Chapman 20
Conversion: Jarvis 21
Penalties: Jarvis 3, 36, 43; Shaw 60
Jersey
Try: McCrea 49
Conversion: O'Connor 50
Penalties: 19, 25, 41, 47, 56
