A thrilling second half come back by Jersey saw them so close to
sharing the spoils before a last minute penalty earned Worcester a
bonus point win and left Jersey with 2 points from the
encounter.
At the start of the evening few would have imagined such a
result, and after a first half that saw the home side go in 17-5
ahead it looked an ominous task.
The first half started fairly evenly with neither side
dominating territory. The biggest frustration was the referee's
interpretation of the scrum that led to free kicks and penalties
being shared with little indication as to why, and this didn't
improve over the whole evening.
Worcester broke the deadlock as they kicked a penalty to the
corner, cleanly won the lineout and drove over with apparent ease.
The conversion was added to make it 7-0. Jersey battled gainly
looking to assert pressure but when penalised at another scrum
Worcester opted to kick for goal to make it 10-0. The Warriors
extended their lead again with another catch and drive from a
lineout and it was starting to look one way traffic.
With about 5 minutes of the half to go, Jersey suddenly took the
initiative. A penalty kick to the corner and a line out followed.
Worcester infringed in midfield and Jersey kicked back to the
corner. Again the Reds pressed the opposition line and following
another penalty, they then kicked to the opposite corner. Another
catch and drive led to another penalty and it appeared that the
Worcester defence would hold firm, but from the 4th line
out Noone peeled off at the front and touched down in the right
hand corner. Bentley couldn't add the extras and 17-5 was how it
stayed.
From the restart Jersey looked hungrier, and as the weather
cleared the visitors started to pass the ball around and put phases
together, but it was Worcester who were again to score first
through Gilbert to extend the lead to 22-5 after some powerful
forward play.
That score was soon cancelled out as Noone got his second of the
evening for Jersey, and Bentley converted to make it 22-12.
Jersey suddenly began to dominate proceedings as Worcester
seemed to lose shape and direction, and when awarded a penalty
midway in the Warriors half, Bentley slotted the conversion to
reduce the arrears further to 22-15.
Again Jersey pressed and another penalty saw them kick to the
corner. Worcester went down to 14 men and Jersey won the lineout
cleanly and drove forward at pace, edging in field at the same
time. At the second attempt to illegally collapse the maul the
referee took no time to blow for a penalty try, and with a
successful conversion Jersey were level at 22-22.
More drama followed at the other end very soon after the restart
and, following a yellow card for Lockwood, Worcester dominated the
resulting scrum forcing Jersey back, and in the process won a
converted penalty try of their own and a try bonus point.
The best was yet to come for Jersey. As the game entered the
final 5 minutes, Locke picked up a loose pass just inside the
Worcester half and sprinted for the line, closely followed by a
chasing defence. Realising the closing pack, he had sense of mind
to change direction twice and then dive early to cross just to the
left of the uprights. Bentley converted and it was all-square
again.
As the game entered the closing minutes it looked as though
Jersey were to come away with an unlikely, but deserved 3 points,
but having missed one penalty attempt Lamb converted a second to
steal the win for the home side in the last minute.
Report by: William Church
Worcester Warriors: Howard, Smith, Stelling,
Mills, Biggs, Lamb, Mulchrone, Rapava Ruskin, Annett, Daniels,
Williams (YC 62), O'Shea, Cox, Gilbert, Van Velze
Replacements: Sowrey, Bower, O'Donnell, Thomas,
Bruzulier, Symons, Pennell
Jersey: Jones-Davies, Locke, Bishop, Robling,
McCrea, Bentley, Glynn, Lancuba, Harris, Selway, Campbell, Rae,
Kaho, Buckle, Noone
Replacements: Lockwood (YC 69), Garcia-Veiga, Herriott,
Haining, Hodson, Dudley, Pointer
Referee: John Meredith (RFU)
Attendance: 5,908
Star men: Mat Gilbert (Worcester); Drew Locke
(Jersey)
Half time: 17-5
Scorers
Worcester Warriors
Tries: Gilbert 11, 45, Rapava Ruskin 29, Penalty Try
73
Conversions: Lamb 11, 29, 73
Penalties: Lamb 21, 78
Jersey
Tries: Noone 36, 48, Penalty Try 63, Locke 75
Conversions: Bentley 36, 63, 75
Penalty: Bentley 56
