East Grinstead v Jersey U14 Boys

Match Report

Once again Jersey found themselves traveling to East Grinstead to play, on what can only be described, as a bog. However, as challenging as the pitch was, it did provide a very entertaining and hard fought match, which was eventually one by Jersey. Playing up the hill in the first half, Jersey took the game to ‘the G’s’ from the start, attempting to move the ball wide despite the conditions. Unsurprisingly, errors were never in short supply, but the lads in red were eventually rewarded when Zach Nicolle forced himself over the line following some good work by the forwards. Charlie Richardson slotted the simple conversion. The G’s tried to respond immediately, breaking into the Jersey 22 for the fist time in the game late in the half, only for Soren Tonsberg to make a crunching tackle on the home sides talisman, allowing Jersey to clear their lines. The home sides coaches must have lit a fire in the G’s bellies during the half time break as they came out with all guns blazing, managing to take advantage of an overlap on the left to score out wide. Crucially, the extra’s were missed. As the half wore on, Jersey weathered the storm and slowly turned the screw, forcing Grinstead to drop out from behind their own line. The ball was gathered on the wing and following some sharp passing out wide the ball found captain Charlie Hewgill who crucially broke clear and finished off the move in the corner (5-12 to Jersey). The final minutes of the game were spent around the home sides 22 as Jersey piled further pressure on a tiring G’s team. Soren Tonsberg capped a fine performance to power through a number of tackles to score behind the posts and allow Charlie Richardson another easy conversion to end the game.

As they made their way back to the changing rooms, the visitors were given a generous round of applause by the East Grinstead parents, a gesture which encapsulated the core values of rugby. Lead coach Justin Pledger was delighted with the result, adding that he was proud of the effort that the lads put in to win a tough game, played in excellent spirit, in very testing conditions.

We would like to thank our main sponsor, Santander International for their continued support as well as Jersey Sport for travel grant funding.