ST CLEMENT have extended their lead at the top of Premiership 1 to 11 points after a hard-fought 3-1 victory away at Jersey Wanderers.
A scrappy back-and-forth tussle was the main viewing point for the first 45 minutes of football at Jersey Wanderers FC, but it should have been the hosts who took the lead at 1-1 after a strike on goal looked certain to break the deadlock were it not for a smart piece of goalkeeping from the St Clement shotstopper.
The hosts did take the lead eventually, after a corner was poorly cleared and fell to Coutanche, who hooked a right-footed volley across the goal into the top corner.
The league leaders looked flustered and were rightly angry with their first-half performance. The second half showed why they have proved so difficult to beat this season. It took only minutes after the re-start for the Wanderers contingent to back off towards their own box and look to defend their lead, which they were doing stoically until a poor clearance from the Wanderers goalkeeper presented the ball at the feet of Charlie Yates, who drew the game level.
This was the catalyst for the runaway leaders, who swung the momentum violently back their way with talisman striker stealing the show. Just four minutes after levelling the score, Hinds took down a cross superbly and finished with the conviction that has marked his many years of topping Jersey’s goalscoring stats.
His celebration, which involved ripping open his shirt down the middle like superman, was a strong visual for all watching.
Hinds bagged his second of the match after being brought down for a blatant penalty in the 75th minute. He coolly tucked his spot kick inside the keeper’s left-hand post and St Clement had earned themselves an excellent comeback and have now taken a giant leap towards the Premiership 1 league title.
Elsewhere, just down the road, St Peter FC were completing their own comeback as they recovered from being behind twice to win a thriller 3-2. Bottom-placed St Ouen shocked the defending champions by taking an early lead just seven minutes in through Jack Steel. Rattled, the home side rallied knowing they need to continue winning at all costs if they are to have any chance of catching St Clement.
Mark Logue was the man, levelling the tie after 21 minutes, but the Ouennies were intent on spoiling the party. Daniel Huelin snuck in to give the table-proppers a most unlikely 2-1 lead away from home at half-time, leaving St Peter’s manager Elliot Powell with an important team talk.
What a talk it must have been, as young star Seaney McColgan first levelled the score after 65 minutes, then bagged the eventual winner with under 15 minutes remaining. The win keeps St Peter just about in with a shout with five games remaining. However, it would take a minor miracle for St Clement to give up an 11-point lead, despite St Peter having a game in hand. The chasers will make up their game in hand tomorrow evening when they travel to the new JFA Le Riche cup winners St Brelade.
In Premiership 2, Sporting Academics handed St John the biggest scoreline defeat of the season as they produced an away day to remember, winning 11-2 at the Recreation Ground. Jersey Bulls forward Odinaka Nwokoro wrote his name into the history books with his second, yes second, five-goal bag of the season, after he netted five against St Peter reserves just weeks ago. Barry Keith (2), Will Gunnell, Diogo Franca, Xavier Bosio and Ben Blacker made up the rest of the Sporting Accies scorecard, while Zach Pygott and Leonardo Pereira netted for St John. Sporting have now closed the gap to Madeira FC at the top of the table to three points.
The bottom two sides in Premiership 2 battled out a thriller, with First Tower overcoming St Lawrence 3-2. Both teams traded blows, with Dylan Rawlinson opening the account for Tower before Sonny Teeling levelled. First Tower went 2-1 up through an unfortunate handling error from the St Lawrence keeper which rather summed up their season. Flapping at a corner swung in, he managed to punch the ball into his own net for an own goal. As heads dropped, Tom Le Monnier twisted the knife to make it 3-1 to Tower and, despite a red card for Tower’s Jacques Anquetil and a late converted penalty, Tower held on for just their second win of their league campaign.
The JFA “Willis Trophy” Bowl quarter-final contest between Dragoes de Jersey and St Peter C saw St Peter run out 2-1 winners thanks to a 90th-minute winner from Kacper Smilek. St Peter C took the lead after just eight minutes, Smilek with the first of the two he scored, before Rodrigo Henriques levelled it up midway through the second half. St Peter C join Grouville reserves and Sporting Accies already cemented in the semi-finals, while the fourth spot will go to the winner of Madeira FC against Sports Club of Jersey tomorrow evening.
In Championship 1, Grouville Reserves continued their title run with a solid 3-0 home win over St Clement Reserves. Stewart Daynes opened the scoring after 35 minutes, before all hell broke loose in the second half when both Lucas Foreman (65th min) and Dane Walsh (80th min) were sent off for St Clement. Marco Da Assuncao took full advantage, netting twice in the last 15 minutes to seal the win and a two-point gap over St Peter Reserves at the league summit.
Championship 2 saw Trinity run out 6-2 winners over Grouville C. Despite a brace for Grouville from Tommy Ward, Trinity had goals from Marco Alexandre Guimaraes Vidal (2), Matthew Veloso, Daniel Raffo, Alex Giles and Aaron Bowen to thank for their three points.
St Brelade Reserves couldn’t emulate their first team’s cup success, as they lost 3-2 in the semi-final of the P.W. Touzel Memorial Trophy to St Ouen Reserves. Philip Jordan opened the scoring midway through the first half, but two in two minutes from Kyle Hampshire then Shane Carre pegged them back. Ross Davison brought Brelade’s level, before Harry Lloyd won it for the Ouennies in the 71st minute. St Ouen Reserves will now await the winner of St Clement Reserves against Grouville Reserves in the final.
In the Women’s division, Jersey Wanderers won a mouth-watering contest 4-3 over St Peter. Goals were shared between Sofia Rodrigues, Lara Couvert, Sienna Ward and Tammie Wheeler as they subjected St Peter to their seventh defeat in a row. Wanderers on the other hand stay on the heels of leaders Rozel Rovers, three points behind them, although Rozel still have a game in hand.
