Nothing unlucky about 13 for ‘excellent’ Jersey side
GUERNSEY may have ruffled some Jersey feathers in the first half, but there was no stopping the reds from making it 13 Senior A inter-insular victories in a row on Sunday.
Less than 12 hours after Jersey’s Serena Guthrie helped England’s netballers to a remarkable Commonwealth Games gold in Australia, her close friends back home were also made to work hard but ultimately cruised to victory over rivals Guernsey.
The Sarnians had been in front after the first quarter and then, at just 21-18 down, the match was in the balance before a dominant second-half display saw the hosts pull away for a resounding 55-28 triumph.
Jersey’s senior side, unbeaten in the annual Open A fixture since 2006, found themselves 4-0 behind early on at Fort Regent as Guernsey burst out of the blocks. The hosts led briefly at 8-7 but were down again, 11-10, by the end of the quarter.
Both islands’ elite club sides, Team Jets and Guernsey Panthers, have had tough campaigns in the English leagues this season, but it was Jersey’s top players who found form in the second quarter with sharp-shooting from Emily Green and a string of six unanswered goals helping them open up a 19-12 advantage.
Guernsey narrowed the deficit to three points at one stage, but the creativity of wing attack Rosie Tonner and centre Jacy Brown fired Linda Andrews’ outfit towards a 24-18 half-time lead.
Perhaps Guernsey had exerted too much energy in the early stages, or maybe it was Jersey simply finding top gear, but as the game wore on the home team showed their class with a hugely dominant third quarter.
Goal defence Lauren Devine was making regular interceptions, Guernsey’s attacking duo Jemma Green and Donna Brehaut were being less accurate than they had been in the early stages, and by the end of the quarter Jersey were 38-23 in front.
There was no way back for Guernsey, as the reds dominated territory, possession and the scoreboard to run out comfortable winners.
‘We started a bit slow, we had to work hard, but we got the win in the end,’ said Tonner, who was named player of the match.
‘Every single year I think we’re more nervous for this game than any other. We play in the league every weekend but this is one of the biggest occasions that we have, we have a massive rivalry with Guernsey and it’s a special occasion.
‘We knew that we just had to push on, we didn’t let it [being behind early on] get to us, after watching England’s game we knew that we could push back.’
Guernsey team manager Amber Stables said: ‘We had a different style to our game that Jersey weren’t expecting. I think we ruffled their feathers for the first half of the game and then, being the excellent team that Jersey are, they sussed our game and went from there.
‘We came here to show Jersey that we are fighting and we still feel that one day we will win that Senior A match. We want to show them that we’re not just going to lie down and let them have it.’
TEAMS
Jersey A: Josie Le Masurier, Lauren Devine, Lisa Luce, Jacy Brown, Rosie Tonner, Tallula Norman, Emily Green. Subs: Nicole Goddard, Libby Rothwell, Leah Griffin, Becca Forrest, Ebony Troy.
Guernsey A: Lorna Hall, Alice Gallienne, Tiffany Gervaise-Brazier, Nena Copperwaite, Steph Batiste, Donna Brehaut, Jemma Green. Subs: Hannah Blondel, Ella Staples, Gemma Batiste, Claire Henry, Charlotte Hill.
