Wharfedale play full part in pulsating contest as Jersey extend winning run

It was the measure of this fine Jersey side that they were able to up their game when it was needed in this excellent, pulsating high-level SSE National League One contest yesterday.

Their 15th win in an unbroken run since beating the Greens at home in St Peter way back in October keeps them on top of the table and on course for promotion at their first attempt – which would make them the first club to do so since the Cornish Pirates (in their old guise as Penzance and Newlyn) ten years ago.

Three finely-constructed tries in the third quarter turned a hitherto even contest firmly in the visitors’ favour and their scrummaging strength and hard three-quarter running – and all-round professionalism and fitness - ensured there was no way back for the Greens for all the excellent play they mounted themselves.

But for half the game they struggled to contain a Wharfedale side whose line speed in defence and alert aggression in the loose gave them a territorial and a scoring edge.

Wharfedale’s 14-13 half-time lead reflected their dominance and greater momentum in the early stages which brought them three excellent, varied scores.

An ecstatic second-minute solo try for Dan Solomi set the game alive, and there followed two snap drop goals from Tom Barrett and a lengthy Tom Davidson penalty for the largest Avenue crowd of the season to cheer.

Nevertheless with the lead changing hands four times in an exciting first quarter, Jersey collected a line-out maul try by excellent lock Nathan Hannay and two penalties and a conversion from the reliable boot of Ross Broadfoot.

Had Wharfedale managed more from their mid-half pressure with Jersey on the retreat, when breaks by Ben Sowrey and James Tincknell went close and two penalty chances went astray, things might well have been pushed much closer.

But after the break it was a different matter. Displaying ominous power at the scrum, a heel against the head in the home 22 was converted expertly into an overlap try for Ashley Maggs on the far wing.

Two further tries around the hour mark with a beautiful flick pass by Donovan Sanders sending fellow centre James Copsey clear and captain Graham Bell driving over, together with two conversions, gave the visitors a deserved bonus-point win, if not quite the command suggested by the scoreline.

But even in retreat, Wharfedale continued to fight furiously, with Arran Myers’ work behind a retreating scrum worth a connoisseur’s admission money alone.