Jersey 23 Worcester Warriors 21
Greene King IPA Championship
FIVE years ago, four divisions separated Worcester Warriors and Jersey who were battling it out in National Three London & South East.
Back then the Islanders could have only dreamed of even coming close to beating Worcester who at that stage were looking to establish themselves as one of the Premiership’s big hitters.
But last Saturday at St Peter’s – the same ground where they beat Bracknell, Basingstoke and Bishop Stortford in the 2009/2010 season – Harvey Biljon’s men pulled off one of the shocks of the Championship.
It was perhaps no surprise for Warriors who needed a late Ryan Lamb penalty to save their blushes when they met at Sixways in November.
But the defeat against the part-timers will still be a tough pill for Worcester’s players and coaches to swallow as it not only ended their 24-match winning streak but also allowed promotion rivals Bristol to return to the top of the table.
What will frustrate Dean Ryan the most is that his side, who scored tries through Sam Smith and Sam Betty, had chances to win it.
Although dispatching four kicks, Andy Symons missed four other attempts at goal, including a last gasp penalty, which proved decisive as a long range drop goal from Aaron Penberthy was enough to secure Jersey a memorable victory.
More than 1,000 Worcester fans made the trip to the Channel Islands expecting to see their side stroll to a 25th success this season.
But Jersey looked determined to spoil their day as they mounted heavy pressure in Worcester’s half for the first 15 minutes.
Warriors did open the scoring with a penalty from Symons, but it was the hosts who deservedly crossed the whitewash first. Fautua Otto dinked the ball over the Warriors backline before collecting and dotting down. Penberthy added the extras.
But their lead last less than a minute as they made a mess of the kick off which fell to Sam Smith who darted through to score.
Symons also fired home a penalty as Warriors upped the tempo, but Jersey still looked dangerous on the counter attack. Ryan Mills managed to get back to relieve the danger after James Buckle charged down a kick.
Penberthy reduced the deficit with a penalty, but fortunately Symons was given the opportunity to cancel it out, which he did to give Worcester a 14-10 lead at half time.
Warriors looked to come out of the blocks firing but were pinged for holding on and full-back Penberthy bagged another three points.
Symons missed his next attempt, but Worcester were cranking up the pressure and on the 54th minute they scored their second unconverted try.
A swift move from right to left saw Chris Pennell brought down agonisingly short before Warriors’ drive kicked into action soon and forced Betty over to make it 19-13.
This seemed to give them a boost as Charlie Mulchrone skipped and sidestepped his way through making 40 metres, while Warriors’ pack was starting to turn the screw.
But they were unable to find that next score to put further breathing space between themselves and Jersey as GJ Van Velze fumbled after good work from Mills and Betty.
And they were soon punished when Ryan Hodgson touched down from a driving lineout, which Penberty converted to set up another nerve-jangling finish.
All the momentum appeared to be with the Islanders as the home fans sensed victory, trailing 21-20.
Warriors’ seemed to be doing enough, but with five minutes to go they suffered a huge blow when Penberty produced a long range drop goal which went through the sticks.
A shell-shocked Worcester still had the chance to win it late on with a penalty, but Symons dragged it wide as Jersey deservedly clung on for a historic win.