Guernsey U18s left heartbroken by extra-time goals

Guernsey came into the first inter-insular fixture in two years off the back of two impressive Stranger Cup wins, but goals from Harry Scott, Darryl Mvalo and Jack Lumsden saw the hosts come away victorious, 3-1, in the centenary U18 Muratti.

‘Obviously it’s really tough to take, the players are so disappointed and all of us who were involved are really disappointed,’ said Guernsey coach Angus Mackay.

‘Our preparations still could have been better, which maybe made the difference, but ultimately it was a tight game and while Jersey might say that they deserved to win I think there’s definitely an argument to make that it could have gone either way.’

Both sides went close to breaking the deadlock early on in Sunday’s fixture, with Jack Lumsden inches away from getting on the end of a dangerous Coutanche delivery, before Jamie Smith rounded the Jersey goalkeeper moments later only to see his attempt cleared off the line.

Luke Elmy was called into action in the 18th minute as a Patrick O’Toole free-kick drew the Guernsey keeper into a smart low save to stop a Jersey opener.

Moments later, though, the hosts did take the lead as Scott slotted home from a tight angle to put Jersey a goal to the good.

Paul Renton’s men then went close to doubling their lead on the stroke of half-time, with the ball ending up in the net thanks to Patrick O’Toole, but it was chalked off for offside.

For much of the second half, it looked as though the singular Jersey goal could be enough until Guernsey’s persistence eventually paid off with less than 10 minutes left on the clock thanks to a fine left-footed strike from centre-back Ben Solway.

The defender’s effort was enough to force extra time and Mackay’s side looked like the team on top as Sean De La Haye was dismissed in the 107th minute for a second bookable offence, forcing Jersey to play with a man less for the remaining moments of the game.

The numerical advantage did not help Guernsey, though, as the hosts reinstated their lead in the second half of extra time thanks to a towering Mvalo header, before Lumsden struck just moments later to secure Jersey the victory in the 100th Junior Muratti.

‘I think we had a 20-minute spell in the first-half where we looked really dangerous, but the problem was we didn’t score,’ said Mackay.

‘We were doing really well apart from creating really clear chances to score, we were just missing that final pass.

‘We were dominating the game, getting into some really dangerous areas but just not creating the chances to score and then they went up and scored.

‘The game got very messy and very fragmented, I think the conditions and the pitch played a part in that and it didn’t really suit us.

‘With the sort of players we’ve got we would have liked to have had a little bit more control over the game and a little bit more control of the ball, but we didn’t have that.’

‘Maybe that was also down to the occasion, it was a bit frantic and a bit messy,’ he said.

‘Now we have to look at where we could improve, where can we get those marginal gains?’

Despite the defeat on the day for his side, the Guernsey coach was keen to put the praise on his side and said that there were a number of exceptional performances within the group.

‘Everybody in the group gave it everything.

‘I was particularly impressed by Seb Vance, he got quite a bad ankle injury a few weeks ago and the amount of time and effort he’s put into not just recovering but then actually playing at that level for 120 minutes.

‘There were no signs of tiredness, no signs of weakness, no signs of cramp, I thought he led the team and captained the team really well,’ he said.

‘Sam Heathcote was outstanding, Owen Wallbridge really impressed me too, the amount of physical effort that they put in was really impressive, George McNeela too.

‘We have to try and take the positives, we have really good players and it bodes well for the future. Just because we lost the game doesn’t mean these players aren’t as good any more.

‘There is massive potential there among this group of players.’