We set off to the Channel Islands, at a very dark and early 4:30am, on Saturday for our much anticipated Jersey game. The boys left in high spirits and were loving the prospect of this away fixture.

The team, despite the long commute, took it seriously and prepared themselves for the game ahead as well as I’ve seen. This was evident in the way we started, fierce tacking and even playing the patterns, which was soon rewarded by an early penalty from Noah.

We then conceded a soft try but the lead was restored by sustained pressure allowing Ali to pick and go and score five meters from the post. After growing into the game our confidence grew and our pressure again was rewarded with an excellent taken penalty from Noah Roberts.

A late unconverted try from the Channel Islanders took us in to halftime 13-12 ahead.

This was some achievement considering we had two flankers on the wings and a couple of imports, it was a good showing by EG
The second half defeat literally comes down to the injuries we picked up (down to 13) the fact they had an extensive bench and the replacements being better players in some cases than ones they replaced. One of these replacements a great young prospect made an immediate impact when he broke through numerous tackles to score twice in quick succession the second was made easier by a momentary lapse in concentration following a penalty.

With 20 minutes to go we found ourselves three tries down.

Thankfully Molly patched up Rory Evans enabling him to come back on and complete his MOM performance shoring up our defences and quieting the home support with a great individual try from Noah Roberts.

The game finished with us chasing them down for more trys with real heart and determination.

On the whole I was impressed how seriously the players took the game before cutting loose and having an epic night put on for us by the Jersey Royal boys.

Thank you to all at both clubs who made this trip possible. I can’t wait for the return fixture!!!