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GUERNSEY RAIDERS CELEBRATE SUCCESS<br />
ALL PHOTOS © MARTIN GRAY – GUERNSEYSPORTPHOTOGRAPHY.COM<br />
After years of disappointment, Guernsey triumphed<br />
46-30, seven tries to four, ending Jersey’s run of<br />
nine successive wins. In fact, it was the first ever<br />
clean sweep for Guernsey RFC, with the club’s<br />
second team, ladies and veteran teams all celebrating<br />
victory in the annual clash, making club history.<br />
‘Only two of us in the team had won the Siam<br />
Cup before, so it was something that a lot of the<br />
boys were hungry for and, from my point of view,<br />
it’s great that the boys got to experience that,’ said<br />
Head Coach of 12 years Jordan Reynolds, who has<br />
overseen the side’s rise from the seventh tier to the<br />
fourth tier of <strong>En</strong>glish rugby, their highest ever level.<br />
‘There was a lot of emotion running through<br />
the players and the community, a lot of tears<br />
on the sidelines from people turning out to<br />
support us. It must be disappointing for Jersey,<br />
I can understand that, but the Jersey coach<br />
said something that’s true: it’s one year of<br />
heartache for them - it’s been 10 years for us.’<br />
Throughout the match, the Sarnians were<br />
never behind. They raced into an early 10-0 lead<br />
thanks to tries from Ned Brown and Luke Sayer,<br />
and they withstood some strong second half<br />
pressure from their Jersey visitors to score<br />
two late tries, wrapping up their win.<br />
Although many had Guernsey as favourites<br />
ahead of the match, following their<br />
promotion to National Two, recent success<br />
was no guarantee of confidence, Jordan<br />
said. ‘I wouldn’t say we were confident at<br />
all. We’d not won for 10 years and the last<br />
two years’ were pretty close games. Jersey<br />
is a fantastic side and there’s a lot of pressure<br />
that comes with a game like that. But playing<br />
at home was a big factor for us. The home<br />
crowd always makes such a huge difference.’<br />
Last year’s strong yet unsuccessful performance<br />
against Jersey, however, inspired confidence in<br />
Team Captain Lewis Hillier, who agreed that the<br />
home crowd helped drive the boys to victory.<br />
‘I can’t speak for the entire team, but I was<br />
definitely confident going into it. We had a chance<br />
to draw with Jersey last year and we showed a lot<br />
of dominance. This year, we were coming off the<br />
back of a successful season and playing at home<br />
in front of a packed crowd, and their belief in the<br />
team really inspired us,’ said the 29 year old.<br />
AFTER YEARS OF DISAPPOINTMENT,<br />
GUERNSEY TRIUMPHED 46-30, SEVEN<br />
TRIES TO FOUR, ENDING JERSEY’S RUN<br />
OF NINE SUCCESSIVE WINS.<br />
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