Jersey 2nd XV 12 St Peter's RFC 17
Welsh touring side St Peter's provided a stern test for Jersey
2nds, who returned to action after a lay-off caused by the fog
which dissuaded Richmond from travelling over at the end of
February.
The Cardiff club, who were formed in 1886 and play their league
rugby in Division Three South-East in Wales, enjoyed a sociable 48
hours in Jersey but still managed to play rugby to a good standard
on a sunny afternoon in the parish that shares their name.
The visitors made most of the early running, forcing Jersey into
some fully-stretched defensive efforts, but eventually something
had to give and a well-worked lineout move saw Rob O'Brien crash
through the Jersey forwards and over.
Trailing 0-5, Jersey showed their intent to play a running game
by turning down a kickable penalty and taking an attacking lineout.
Centre Mark White came close soon afterwards but an
uncharacteristic handling error saw the opportunity missed, while
on other occasions promising field positions for Jersey were
squandered by a malfunctioning lineout.
The visitors looked likely to score again and were only
prevented by a superb cover tackle by Russell Holland, and some
infringements from Jersey players that saw referee Olly Gleave
issue a team warning to Island skipper Ian Henderson. The next
offence saw Richard Stather sin-binned, and St Peter's took
advantage, with centre Bryn Evans crossing and James Mullane adding
the extras to make it 0-12 at the break.
Needing to score first to make a game of it, Jersey attacked
with purpose after the restart. The ball was spun wide by Charlier
Hubert to Holland and then to Sam Fuller. The Academy winger was
tackled high as he cut inside but was still able to off-load to
O'Brien who zipped over the line and under the posts. Hubert
converted (7-12).
O'Brien's searing run set up the try of the game soon
afterwards. He made some 50 metres before succumbing to a
last-ditch tackle. Good support, initially from Ryan Morgan,
enabled quick ball to be fed wide and Holland played a 'one-two'
with back row colleague Brian Rennison before scoring in the corner
and tying the game.
St Peter's rallied and a spell of pressure resulted in their
third try, the second by Rob O'Brien, leaving Jersey chasing the
game in the closing minutes. Rennison caught the restart and made
good ground, but the ball was wrestled from his grasp and the
opportunity lost. St Peter's managed to attack into the Jersey half
and keep Jersey well clear of scoring range until the final
whistle.
The Welsh side chose Brian Rennison as their man-of-the-match,
and enjoyed a lively afternoon in the JRFC clubhouse rehydrating
and watching the Six Nations games on TV.
Jersey: Danny Curzons, Ed Dingle (Luke
Trotter), Jim Brimelow, Ian Henderson, James Voss (Ryan Bisson),
Zac Taylor (Bobby Bisson), Russell Holland, Brian Rennision,
Brendan O'Brien, Charlie Hubert, Sam Fuller, Richard Stather, Mark
White, Ryan Morgan (Mark Livesey), Jim Milner.
Pictures of this game are on our Facebook site - http://on.fb.me/yL6suV
