Finally; well, the weekend was a mixed bag of results for Island sport, wasn’t it?
The men’s darts team beat Guernsey, but the women didn’t. The women footballers lost 1-0 to the Sarnians and, in rugby, the Siam Cup was lost 22-13.
Of all of last weekend’s results, that last scoreline was the one which surprised me least.
Why? – Because Jersey’s REAL final this season was played the week before, when the JRFC beat Staines 15-0 to win promotion into London I.
If Jersey had lost that particular game, all of the money that Jersey rugby has attracted in recent years would have meant very little for their final destination.
And I don’t think that any Island team in any sport can play two Cup finals, one week after the other.
Afterwards Director of Rugby, Dai Burton, said: ‘Maybe on a day like today we should put a Jerseyman in charge, give him the captaincy for the one-off occasion.’
Personally, I don’t think that having a Jersey boy in charge would have made any difference.
Listening to the radio broadcast of the game, for example, I realised that within ten minutes Guernsey had the upper hand; Jersey were (as they tend to do far too often) giving away too many penalties and if Nick Barton had been wearing his kicking boots, the score would have been even greater to the home side.
But I’m not disappointed. Jersey’s future has to be in the UK, at the highest level possible.
This year Jersey won promotion to London I.
Guernsey, two divisions below them, finished mid-table.
In other words, this was always going to be Guernsey’s big day. Jersey had had theirs. So no complaints; no back-biting; instead, ‘well done, Guernsey’. And I mean it.
For although I wasn’t there to see it, Guernsey deserved to win, because one of the beauties of sport is that, on their day, any team can pull out a match-winning performance. The bigger the team, the further the fall.
The Siam old story
Finally; well, the weekend was a mixed bag of results for Island sport, wasn’t it?
The men’s darts team beat Guernsey, but the women didn’t. The women footballers lost 1-0 to the Sarnians and, in rugby, the Siam Cup was lost 22-13.
Of all of last weekend’s results, that last scoreline was the one which surprised me least.
Why? – Because Jersey’s REAL final this season was played the week before, when the JRFC beat Staines 15-0 to win promotion into London I.
If Jersey had lost that particular game, all of the money that Jersey rugby has attracted in recent years would have meant very little for their final destination.
And I don’t think that any Island team in any sport can play two Cup finals, one week after the other.
Afterwards Director of Rugby, Dai Burton, said: ‘Maybe on a day like today we should put a Jerseyman in charge, give him the captaincy for the one-off occasion.’
Personally, I don’t think that having a Jersey boy in charge would have made any difference.
Listening to the radio broadcast of the game, for example, I realised that within ten minutes Guernsey had the upper hand; Jersey were (as they tend to do far too often) giving away too many penalties and if Nick Barton had been wearing his kicking boots, the score would have been even greater to the home side.
But I’m not disappointed. Jersey’s future has to be in the UK, at the highest level possible.
This year Jersey won promotion to London I.
Guernsey, two divisions below them, finished mid-table.
In other words, this was always going to be Guernsey’s big day. Jersey had had theirs. So no complaints; no back-biting; instead, ‘well done, Guernsey’. And I mean it.
For although I wasn’t there to see it, Guernsey deserved to win, because one of the beauties of sport is that, on their day, any team can pull out a match-winning performance. The bigger the team, the further the fall.
Article posted on 8th May, 2008 - 2.58pm