Report: Clinical Sarnians control play in outstanding effort

Guernsey were on a mission on Saturday and they accomplished it in style.

A first outright Sarnian win in half-a-dozen years regained the trophy that has been in Jersey hands since 2023 and it was nothing more than the hosts deserved, as they got their tactics and execution spot on.

With the ball they were patient when necessary before stepping on the gas when the opportunity arose, while out of possession they hassled and harried the opposition at the right times.

Crucially, they were clinical when their chances came too.

James Ball will deservedly take the headlines for his excellent hat-trick, but in among the typical hustle and bustle, occasionally fiery environment, of an inter-insular, captain Jonny Clark and Matt Stokes were truly outstanding for the hosts as their composure shone through on an entertaining afternoon.

As usual, it was fast and furious from the outset with Jersey winning the first penalty-corner of the game, which Zak Damarell did well to run down, before Guernsey went straight up the other end to earn one of their own from which Josh Kendal was millimetres away from deflecting in Stokes’ drag flick.

The momentum swung fully in the home side’s favour in the 12th minute when Chris Thomas received a green card for a trip on Damarell.

While Jersey were down to 10, Damarell came to the fore. Within a minute he had fired a ball into the D from the right-hand side and Ball was on hand to turn it in at the far post.

From that point on, the Greens were much the better side for the remainder of the first half and they made their superiority count.

Nine minutes later, a move sparked by an injection of pace from Dan Cameron culminated in George Le Roux’s trickery earning another short and Stokes slotted his drag flick into the bottom corner.

Stokes was just wide with a similar effort a couple of minutes later, but when Josh Barrett won Guernsey’s fourth short of the half on 32min. drag-flick duties switched to Sean Donaldson, who made no mistake with a pinpoint finish into the top-right corner that gave Anthony Davies no chance.

The interval gave Jersey a much-needed chance to regroup and within three minutes of the restart they had got a goal back, with Pete Millar making no mistake with his penalty stroke after Cameron had upended Anthony Kay in the D.

Millar then hit the post with a short-corner drag flick as the Reds built up a head of steam and they narrowed the deficit further when Barney Aston found the net from a narrow angle after Tom Judd had saved from Tiaan Kruger midway through the half.

The next goal was going to be crucial and it was Ball who popped up to score it with 13 minutes remaining, cleverly lifting his reverse stick effort just effort to get it past Davies as the keeper spread himself.

The Greens did not sit back, though, and Davies did well to block Isaac Eyton-Jones before Damarell was just wide with his shot at the end of a trademark forceful run.

With five minutes to play, Jersey removed their keeper to go with 11 outfield players and it almost paid immediate dividends but Judd made a fine save to maintain the two-goal cushion.

Then, with time running out, Ball intercepted at full stretch in midfield before setting off towards the Jersey D. With no one in goal, once he got there he managed to roll the ball in despite almost collapsing with exhaustion as he did so.

That coup de grace allowed coach Ed Benfield and his players to enjoy the remaining 90 seconds before the celebrations began.

‘We had a good game plan and we executed it well. Every single player played their absolute socks off. No one let us down today. It was absolutely brilliant,’ said Benfield.

‘James Ball scores goals – that’s why he’s at the front there. He’s got incredible skill and pace, so no it’s no surprise he scored a hat-trick today... I’m just glad he did it today.’

Benfield added that even when Jersey pulled two goals back in the second half, he was relatively calm.

‘In previous matches, I would have got very twitchy, but I thought today we controlled the game really well, so I was confident that we could see it out and win the game,’ he said.

Jersey captain Tom Millar was magnanimous in defeat, saying the 20-minute period in the first half when Guernsey scored three times proved decisive.

‘When you’re chasing the game at 3-0, it’s always going to be difficult,’ he said.

‘I thought our guys put in a terrific effort at the start of the second period, applied a bit of pressure, got two goals, were a bit unlucky with a couple of others and our tails were up at that point and I thought, “here we go”.

‘But, as I say, when you’re chasing the game from 3-0 down, one more goal for them and it’s essentially game over. They scored it at the crucial moment and were deserving of their win.’

TEAMS

Guernsey: Judd, Ball, Barrett, Cameron, Cashin, Clark, Damarell, Donaldson, Eyton-Jones, Judd, Kendal, Le Clerc, Le Roux, Mansell, Nightingale, Peacegood, Stokes.

Jersey: Davies, Dudley, Aston, Hodgson, Bolton, Anthoine, P Millar, Kay, T Millar, Habin, Thomas, Kruger, Heelis, Sibley.

Umpires: S and B Edwards.