Guernsey claim inter-insular touch title for only the second time

The result marks just the second time that the Sarnians have lifted the trophy in the 17 years since the formation of the event.

It was the first time the inter-insular had taken place since 2019 due to the pandemic and this year’s cup was decided in a singular mixed game.

Jersey won the senior men’s game that followed the cup match in front of a decent-sized Port Soif crowd and a friendly between the two mixed sides ended 8-8 in the final fixture of the day.

‘That was a really big win for us,’ said Guernsey touch chairman and player Ollie Ward following the victory.

‘We started very well but I thought we let them into the game a little bit more than we should have as it went on.

‘However, in the end we managed to use our experience and see it out.’

The hosts got off to a dream start in the inter-insular cup game as Ismail Slamang scored the first try of the game early on, before Harry Burns quickly doubled the lead just moments later.

Wing Lai had made a vital intervention between Guernsey’s opening tries to stop the Jersey attack, but the visitors would eventually get one back and half the deficit.

The Sarnians were quick to re-establish a two-point lead with Slamang once again getting over the try line, and Wing Lai once again came to the rescue at the other end with a last ditch touch to maintain Guernsey’s two-point advantage.

Burns powered past Jersey’s defence not long after and made it 4-1 to the Greens, before Jersey scored two tries either side of another from Slamang meaning the hosts went into the break 5-3 up.

Jacques Le Vallee scored his first of the game following the restart, re-establishing a three-point advantage for Guernsey, although Jersey were not quite out of it yet as they began to launch a comeback.

Two quick tries for the visitors pulled it back to 6-5 and it looked as though the Greens may have started to let it slip.

However, tries from Christa Feltham, Matt Armstrong and Carly Parrott ensured the hosts would bring the cup back to Guernsey for just the second time as Jersey could only add one more in between the late Sarnian points.

‘It was a real collective effort today between attack and defence.

‘I do not think I could pick out any specific names because everybody did their part,’ said Ward.

Jersey proved to be too strong for the Guernsey senior men’s side in the second game of the day as they came out as 7-5 winners.

It looked promising for the hosts early on, taking a 1-0 and then 2-1 lead, but after an end-to-end first 20 minutes Jersey went into the break with a 4-3 lead.

Jersey scored quickly as the second half got under way and two more tries from either side meant that the visitors ran away as victors.

The final fixture of the day was a friendly between the two mixed sides, and Slamang shone once again for the Sarnians as he top scored with three tries.

Cole Graham and Dylan Stocks were two of the standouts for Jersey over the course of the two mixed games as they scored five tries between them in the friendly.

A sudden downpour in the second period put a slight dampener on proceedings in the final game of the event as the crowd were forced to head inside and watch on from the Rovers clubhouse, although the game continued to be played in good spirit and ended eight points apiece.

‘It was brilliant to have this event back and it was great to see such a good crowd turn up here today,’ added Ward.

‘It was a really fun environment and it was great to be a part of.

‘I think it is definitely going to be possible for us to win more of these games in the coming years, but the trouble that we have is that we have a bit more of an ageing squad compared to Jersey.

‘They probably lacked a little bit of experience, but they have got age on their side, so the next few should be quite interesting.’