Yobbos clinch 'Upton' at first attempt
IT WAS not a classic, but Yobbos will not care.
Their name will be on the men’s Channel Islands Club Championship shield for the first time after goals from Guernsey midfielders Matt Stokes and Jonny Clark gave them a hard-earned 2-0 win over fellow ‘Upton’ debutants Crusaders on Saturday at Footes Lane.
The pink and whites deserved their victory, but having taken an early lead, they were forced to dig deep and grind out the result against a Crusaders side who played their full part in a gritty, occasionally heated encounter as you would expect in an inter-island battle, although the umpires never had to reach for their cards.
If anyone was unaware of the importance of the clash, it soon became apparent when the usually understated Stokes roared in celebration after giving his side a fourth-minute lead.
Having made the brighter start of the two sides, Yobbos earned the first short corner of the game and although the Island player did not get hold of his initial drag-flick as intended, when the ball bounced back to him having been saved by Piers Brandie, Stokes thumped it home on the half-volley.
Three minutes later he nearly set up his brother Ant for a second, but Brandie was alert to make the save and the visiting keeper then kept out the older Stokes at the next short-corner a couple of minutes later.
The game became one of attrition for a lengthy spell as the first half progressed, before Crusaders forced a couple of short corners but were unable to make them count. Then a fast break from Yobbos, with Jack Birch involved down the right, culminated in George Le Roux and Tom Cashin getting in each other’s way in the D and the chance was lost.
Le Roux was having a good game, though, and it required another good save from Brandie to deny the youngster a goal six minutes before half time after he had linked up well with Ant Stokes.
It remained 1-0 until half time and the first noteworthy attack of the second half proved to be the closest Crusaders came to an equaliser as captain Tom Millar drove the ball goalwards and Lawrence Stewart deflected it onto the crossbar.
While the visitors managed to force five short corners after the break, they were unable to really test Dan Brown in the Yobbos goal, while at the other end Brandie was called into action to deny both Ant Stokes and Ryan Gilson.
With 11 minutes remaining, the home side finally got the two-goal cushion they craved.
It came from another short corner which Matt Stokes shifted left to Jonny Clark and his flick just about crossed the line despite Brandie getting a good piece of it with his left hand.
A couple of moments later Tristan Cairns showed all his experience to defuse a two-on-one situation as Millar and Nat Watkins bore down on him with a brilliant interception and Yobbos were able to see out the last few minutes without further alarm.
‘Tough game – they gave us a really good run for our money,’ said Yobbos captain Steve Eulenkamp.
‘They are obviously a quality team, but what was nice today was we were not just good going forward, we were quality at the back as well and defended hard for each other because we really wanted to win the game.
‘We just tried to approach it like any other game of hockey. For us, we are all about the process and all about playing a good game and we did that today.’
His opposite number, Millar, called it ‘frustrating from us’ and felt Yobbos deserved their win.
‘Yobbos are a terrific side and it’s kind of synonymous with Guernsey hockey that a club side plays like that,’ he said.
‘They play really good, fast hockey, they whizz the ball around, all their players are capable of controlling the ball and playing simple stuff. They don’t rely on their star players beating two people and roofing it.
‘I think the quality of their team performance was the main difference today.
‘Having said that, we had more than enough chances to create opportunities. We probably had more short corners than them, they scored two short corners, we didn’t score a single one. Bobby Minty is our usual injector, but he pulled his calf last week and we fluffed our lines a bit and couldn’t get the chances away that we wanted to.
‘We’re not too disappointed as a side, it’s our first appearance in the Upton. We did terrifically back in Jersey to win the league against some top teams, but on the day Yobbos played better hockey than us and deserved to win.’
