Guernsey men win, but women falter later on

GUERNSEY'S men won the inaugural Inter-Islands Tournament, coming from two goals behind to beat Isle of Man 7-2 in the final. But the Sarnian women were hit by a strong Jersey fightback in theirs.

The red-and-whites, inspired by Jamie Herbert, came from 4-1 down to win 6-4 as Guernsey tired late on.

The two-day competition, sponsored by Voyager International (Pathfinders), was a huge success.

John Barker, after presenting the trophies, medals and champagne to the winning teams, announced that the managers had agreed that the second tournament would be held in the Isle of Man in September 2007 and that he would back it.

Guernsey's men won all three of their round-robin matches comfortably, hitting 23 goals and conceding just four.

Second in the table were Isle of Man, with 14 points, followed by Jersey and then the President's XI.

Points were awarded not only for the result - one for a draw, three for a win - but also for any goals scored up to three.

Thus a team winning 7-2 would get six points while the losers would pick up two.

In the women's round robin, Jersey pipped the hosts by a point, with Clifton Ladies third and then Isle of Man.

Clifton, unfortunately, had to concede their final match against Jersey when their keeper was taken ill and could not continue and there was no substitute available.

With Guernsey in both finals, it looked promising for a clean sweep, especially when the home island's women raced into a 4-1 lead in the first one of the afternoon.

Jo Bell set the greens on their way on 12 minutes, only for Emma Anderson to equalise within two.

Bell restored Guernsey's lead with a fine poacher's finish from close range on 25min. and Michele Gilson made it 3-1 just before the break with a short-corner strike.

When Bell completed her hat-trick from close range after a melee in the D, the match looked to be Guernsey's.

But the impressive Herbert pulled one back almost immediately.

She then gave her side hope with her second - a slick dribble into the D left defenders trailing and a cruel deflection from her shot gave keeper Emma Atkinson no chance, the ball dribbling past the wrong-footed Guernsey number one.

And it was 4-4 from the next attack, Becky Darts following up at a short corner to slam the ball home with some force.

With Guernsey wilting, Herbert put her side 5-4 ahead and Kerry Warwick completed a fine comeback with a sixth as time ticked out.

Guernsey's men suffered the worst-possible start, falling behind from the first shot of the final with barely a minute on the watch.

Defensive uncertainty proved fatal, the Isle of Man number eight profiting to score at the second attempt.

Guernsey thought they'd equalised on seven minutes, TJ Ozanne wheeling away in celebration after a free hit had nicked a stick on its way into the net, but the umpires conferred and decided that it had hit a defender's stick, not Ozanne's and the goal was ruled out.

And it got worse on 25min. as the Guernsey defenders not only froze when facing a free hit in their 25, but also allowed the Isle of Man forward all the time he wanted to slam the ball past the helpless Dave Walley.

The greens build-up play was effective, but they could not find the finish until the last seconds of the first half, playmaker and arguably player of the tournament Andy Whalley firing in directly at a short corner.

After the break it was a totally different game, with Guernsey rampaging forward and finding the net with ease.

On 48min. Whalley drove, fed Ozanne and his unselfish pass gave Jonathan Wilkes-Green a simple slap home.

Wilkes-Green put his side ahead a minute later, diverting in Whalley's precise free hit.

That became 4-2 as Ozanne's short-corner drag flick found the net off the keeper's gloves and Wilkes-Green completed his hat-trick with a deft glance off Ozanne's shot from the left.

Dave Morris joined the party with a clever turn and finish after Tony Veillard's crossfield pass had taken out all the Isle of Man defence.

And the last word came from the untouchable Whalley. His drive left four opponents floundering and a confident finish beat the keeper with ease - 7-2 to Guernsey.