Jersey 16 Plymouth Albion
14
RFU
Championship
by
Tom Innes
Jersey clawed their way back into a tense arm-wrestle of a match
to register a second successive Championship win and move off the
bottom of the league table.
Mike Le Bourgeois slotted his third penalty of the afternoon
with five minutes to play, delighting the majority in a 1,900
crowd.
"I've got a huge amount of respect for my boys and the hard work
they have put in," said Jersey Director of Rugby Ben Harvey. "That
work is starting to bring results.
"I was especially pleased with our display in the scrum - we are
as good as anyone in that department, and that comes from the 'hard
yards' put in by the team in training."
The Islanders took an early lead when Albion lost possession
inside Jersey's 22. James Copsey picked up the loose ball and sped
75 metres to score.
After Jack Arnott was denied by a superb Glenn Bryce tackle and
Jersey were warned for taking down a driving maul, Albion took the
lead through two Paul Roberts' penalties - after an early mis-hit -
and a catch-and-drive try finished off by No 8 Aaron Carpenter.
The penalty count against Jersey was mounting but the home side
managed to regain sufficient territory to allow Le Bourgeois to
slot a penalty, awarded for offside shortly before half-time.
The sides turned round 10-11 with Jersey finishing slightly the
stronger.
Roberts stretched his side's lead with a penalty early in the
second period. Jersey upped the pressure but a combination of
determined defence and crucial errors kept the scoreboard unmoved
until finally Le Bourgeois was given a straightforward chance with
a quarter of an hour to go after Albion prevented a try-scoring
opportunity close to their goal-line.
Eventually Le Bourgeois was presented with the opportunity to
win the game after a thunderous run by Jersey replacement Dave
Markham into Plymouth's 22 ended with an equally physical tackle,
but also an intervention from the touch judge ruling that Albion
were offside. And the Jersey fly-half made no mistake.
Roberts had a long-range drop goal attempt as the clock ticked
into the penultimate minute, but the ball was charged down and
Jersey held on.
Plymouth Director of Rugby Nat Saumi said: "Our game management
wasn't good enough. It was a close game in difficult conditions,
and ultimately the breakaway try and the missed penalty in the
first 10 minutes were the difference today."
JERSEY (sponsored by jersey.com and
Locate Jersey): Bryce (Davies 48), Copsey, Sanders, Maggs,
Dawson, Le Bourgeois, O'Brien (Griffiths 53); McCarthy (Barrington
62), Boden (Felton 77), Gethings, Anderson (Markham 62), Hannay
(capt), Rodgers, Lang, Thompson. Replacements not used: Brennan,
Voss.
PLYMOUTH ALBION: Slade,
Warner, Bailey, Armitage, Arnott, Roberts, Rowley; Cowan-Dickie L
(Andrew 72), Vickers (Cowan-Dickie T, 74), Fairbrother (Morton 62),
Beukeboom (Nasiga 62), Stephen (capt), Hocking, Sprangle,
Carpenter. Replacements not
used: Cushion, Fisilau, Tovey.
Referee: Ian Tempest
Attendance: 1,894
Sponsor's man-of-the-match:
Nathan Hannay (Jersey)
Half-time: 10-11
Scorers
Jersey
Try: Copsey 3
Conversion: Le Bourgeois
3
Penalties: Le Bourgeois 36,
66, 75
Plymouth Albion
Try: Carpenter 19
Penalties: Roberts 15, 29,
48
