Reds resist late charge to finally get one over Carnegie

IN A tense, compelling contest Jersey held on to break a run of nine straight defeats to Carnegie, who have lost consecutive matches for the first time this season.

Jersey coach Harvey Biljon hailed the commitment of his players.

“I’m proud of the team tonight, they played like warriors against a big and physical team,” he said. “We’ve got some momentum, and the players have been performing well under pressure, which helped us see out the game.”

Reds were dominant in the early stages, monopolising possession and forcing a stream of penalties. When Carnegie transgressed for the sixth time in 12 minutes, prop Michael Cusack was sent to the sin-bin, and soon after relentless pressure ended with No.8 Nick Haining stretching over the line.

The 14-man visitors eventually managed to secure the ball, and with it a foothold in the game with Boyce powering over from a driving maul on his return to the field.

Carnegie led briefly thanks to Alex Davies’ conversion, but Callum Sheedy’s penalty restored the Reds’ advantage.

A powerful run by Steve McColl might have led to a Carnegie try, but the pass to Pete Lucock could not be taken. The Reds were driven back at the resulting scrum, but Haining was able to pick up at the base and launch a 70m counter attack with help from Kuki Ma’afu and Nick Scott.

The latter was hauled down short, but soon after Jordan Davies forced his way over.

The third quarter featured two further Sheedy penalties for Jersey and a brace of mauled tries for Carnegie, finished by Michael Cusack and Phil Nilsen. Davies added a conversion to level the score at 19-19.

A searing run by Haining was ended by a tackle from Lewis Boyce that was ruled dangerous by the officials and brought a yellow card. The Reds capitalised with a series of forward drives before working the ball wide for Jack Cuthbert to score.

Carnegie had chances to win the match in the closing stages, but were repelled by determined Jersey resistance.

“We were much improved from our previous game, but the team who took their chances won,” said Carnegie boss Bryan Redpath. “It was a game of small margins – the try at the end of the first half was a big turning point, and we’d dispute the second yellow card, but credit to Jersey.”