Post prevents Reds claiming a famous away victory

A LAST minute Nicholas Selway try helped rescue a draw for Jersey at the Bay.

Full-back Brendan Cope had an opportunity to clinch victory for the Reds with his final-minute conversion, but his kick clipped the post and went wide.

Despite the brutal finish, head coach Harvey Biljon admits he was pleased with the way his side performed.

“I’m pretty proud of the players. We came here with some real endeavour in the first half. There were a fair few decisions that didn’t go our way, but sometimes that happens.”

Jersey got off to a dream start through wing Auguy Slowik, who collected his own kick straight from kick-off and sped past full-back Sean Scanlon to score in the corner, Cope adding the extras.

The Reds continued to dominate the opening kicking encounters with Nottingham’s back three struggling, but Ian Costello’s side slowly grew, and Tiff Eden slotted a penalty on 11 minutes to reduce the deficit.

Despite Cope having a penalty chance moments later, it was the hosts who scored next through 23year-old Will Millett who sped through a tight Jersey defensive line and skipped past the final defender to cross under the posts. Eden added the simple extras, taking the former Worcester fly-half to over 200 points for the Green and Whites.

Jersey had the final say of the half following a dominant driving maul, replacement hooker Selway collecting the honours and dotting down, and Cope nailed the tough conversion to pull the visitors into the lead as they went into the break.

Eden, ever reliable from the kicking tee, punished the Reds midway through the second forty, scoring nine points in six minutes after three consecutive penalties at the breakdown.

This surge of points pulled the hosts ahead by five, and it wasn’t until the final moments of the game that Jersey showed any intent of getting over the line.

Selway claimed his second try from the back of the maul once again, but Cope’s conversion attempt slammed into the posts, denying Jersey an away victory.

The draw halted Nottingham’s home league winning streak, and head coach Costello said:

“It wasn’t the performance we were hoping for at home. Our energy and bounce, our trademark, was missing.

“We were lucky.”