A GAME of two halves.

It’s an old footballing cliché, but by the end of the first 40 minutes Jersey were lucky to be only 14 points down.

By the end of the second they had won 21-19.

On a penalty count, if the visitors had kicked their penalties instead of aiming for the corner, the game would have been over by half-time.

As it was, Jersey brought new life to the second half against the second best team in the league.

Old Colfeians, who recently became the first side to beat league leaders Sutton and Epsom, and who boast the second-best defensive record in London South 2, never looked like losing until their confidence was shattered in the 47th minute.

By then, in front of a subdued 600-plus crowd, Jersey had been reduced to desperate measures.

Against a young, keen, disciplined side, Jersey had given away so many penalties that Old Colfeians, twice, first in the tenth and then in the 17th minute, had kicked the ball into touch five yards out to the right of the Jersey try line and, from the resultant line-outs, had gathered the ball and shunted the way to the line.

Their first score fell to No 7, Charlie Clay, who dived over the line from a yard out.

The second try was by prop and captain Matt Quilter, whose forwards swept him over the line.

With two conversions from full-back Andy Howard, it was text-book rugby, short and sweet.

Win the ball, secure it, trundle five or six yards and score.

And twice more they attempted to do the same thing instead of taking pot shots at goal.

In other words, 14-0 to the good at the break, Old Colfeians seemed completely in control.

‘At half-time I told the players to compete, rather than defending the line-out,’ said director of rugby, Dai Burton, afterwards.

‘In the first half we’d been running around like headless chickens.

Having two players yellow-carded (Richie Griffiths and Nathan Kemp) did us no favours, either.

In the second half both Graham Bell and Kern Yates were great in the back row: we settled better and began to win more possession.’ And, from the virtual obscurity of the first 40 minutes, Jersey were a changed side in the second half.

Their first try, arguably, was the luckiest of the game when a long kick from defence saw winger Ryan Morgan chase it to within two yards of the Old Colfeians’ try-line.

His opposite winger, Rob Seidu, tried to control the ball and failed and with two other Jersey players running free to the left, it looked odds-on that either one of them would pick up and touch down.

Instead, scrum-half Dave Miles was brought crashing down by an off-the-ball tackle and the referee awarded a penalty try.

So, against the run of play, in the 47th minute, Jersey were only 14-7 behind after a sweet conversion by Kiwi Graham Smith.

More and better was to follow.

In the 52nd minute an electrifying run by teenage winger Ryan Morgan saw him cut inside from the half way line before, ten yards out, he fed prop Josh Chamier who sold an elaborate dummy before the ball was fed to Jason Hosty who dotted the ball down to the left of the posts.

Again, Graham Smith converted.

With 25 minutes to play, the score was 14-14; the visitors were reeling from the onslaught and were no longer kicking for position, rather for points.

A 40 metre punt at goal by Howard fell lamentably short before, in the 65th minute, Old Colfeians went ahead when a huge gap opened up in front of No 12 Mark Garfoot, who was tackled by full-back Richard Stevens a yard from the line.

As he fell, he passed to scrum-half Patrick Vickers who ran in for an easy try.

Within three minutes, however, a pumped-up Jersey side were in front again.

This time a penalty put them five yards away from the left-hand corner.

And, this time, following the line-out and against a side visibly tiring, Jersey steam-rollered over for Latu Makai’afi to score.

Smith’s conversion put them in front for the first time in the match, 21-19.

Then, for the last 20 minutes of an exhilarating game, Jersey were pumped up, playing the best rugby St Peter’s has seen this season, with every player focused on clinging to their two-point lead.

For Old Colfeians, there was to be no way back, and one of the loudest roars of approval came on the stroke of full time when hooker Nathan Kemp took out Garfoot with such force that the sound of the tackle could have been heard from St Peter to Trinity.

‘It was a game we could have won,’ said Old Colfeians’ manager, Dave Hodgkiss, ‘and giving away a penalty try was disappointing.

But I can’t blame any of our players.

The end result was that Jersey deserved to win.’ Team: Marcus Nobes, Nathan Kemp, Josh Chamier (Jim Brimelow), Marc Peters (John Allo), Roger Quirk, Kern Yates, Richie Griffiths (Latu Makai’afi), Graham Bell, Dave Miles, Darren Toudic, Jim Milner, Graham Smith, Jason Hosty, Ryan Morgan, Steve O’Brien (Richard Stevens).