Jersey's British & Irish Cup campaign, which began
promisingly and featured hope of qualification for the knock-out
stages, came to a disappointing end in west Wales.
The Islanders took a nine-point lead against Carmarthen Quins in
the final group match played at Church Bank, Llandovery. But it was
downhill from there, with the Quins scoring four tries to complete
an eventually comfortable victory and seal second place in pool 5,
although this was not enough to qualify.
The Jersey pack dominated the early exchanges and this
stranglehold led to a series of penalty awards. Aaron Penberthy
stepped up on each occasion and landed three of the four kicks to
put his side nine points ahead.
The home team realised that playing a tight game would suit
Jersey and were able to channel the ball wide. This meant no more
penalty chances for Jersey, and then led to a try: the Islanders'
previously water-tight defence was breached, and Adam Warren
crossed the line, with Daniel Jones adding the extras to reduce the
arrears to just two points at half-time.
The early stages of the second half were attritional, with few
scoring opportunities until a well-placed grubber kick by Dan Jones
enabled winger Jordan Williams to score and give his side the lead.
Jersey's best effort during this period was when Ross Jones-Davies
almost put Ed Dawson in for a try.
By this stage Jersey had made several changes, with Gareth
Harris and Danny Herriott coming into the front row. Joe Buckle
moved from hooker to the back row but was soon forced from the
field with a shoulder injury, Nick Campbell coming on.
Jersey's forwards were no longer dominant, and pressure at the
scrum meant that Jersey were warned and Nacho Lancuba eventually
received a yellow card. Straight after this, a rolling maul rumbled
over the try-line and Roy Osborn scored, with Dan Jones adding the
conversion and making it 19-9.
Myles Landick entered the fray, the loose-head making his first
appearance for Jersey's 1st XV since the league game against
Cornish Pirates in April 2013.
The bonus point try for the Quins came in the closing stages
with quick hands freeing replacement Aaron Warren to canter to the
line.
After the final whistle, Harvey Biljon said he was disappointed
by his side's failure to control the game after going ahead,
bemoaning a high error count. He said it was pleasing to see
players such as Williams, Landick and Phillips return and said that
he hoped there were no major injury concerns with the exception of
Buckle, whose shoulder injury will be analysed in the coming
days.
British & Irish Cup qualifiers (for quarter finals w/e
of January 24th, ties to be drawn on December 15th):
Home ties: Doncaster, Worcester, Bristol and
Rotherham
Away ties: Leinster 'A', Yorkshire Carnegie, Pontypridd
and Munster 'A'
Carmarthen: Steff Evans, ?Frazier Climo, ?Steff
Hughes (capt)?, Adam Warren, Jordan Williams, Daniel Jones, Kieran
Hardy; Rhys Thomas, Ryan Elias, Jacobie Adriaanse, Lewis Rawlins,
Shaun Jones, Phil Day, Will Boyde, Tom Phillips. Replacements:
Torrin Myhill, Gethin Robinson, Ben Leung, Roy Osborn, Kyle Evans,
Aaron Warren, Iolo Evans
Jersey: Ross Jones-Davies, Jack Burroughs (Mark
Foster 59), David Bishop, Tobias Hoskins (Grant Pointer 68), Ed
Dawson, Aaron Penberthy, Joel Dudley (Ryan Glynn 76); Ignacio
Lancuba (YC 64) (Markham 74), Joe Buckle (Nick Campbell 51), Harry
Williams (Herriott HT), Pierce Phillips, Dave Markham (Myles
Landick 68), Alex Rae (capt), Ryan Hodson (Harris HT), Mick
Noone.
Referee: Andy Brace (IRFU)
Attendance: 300 (estimate)
Half-time: 7-9
Scorers
Jersey
Penalties: Penberthy 10, 13, 20
Carmarthen
Tries: Adam Warren 29, Williams 56, Osborn 65, Aaron
Warren 74
Conversion: Jones D 29, 65
