Siam Cup 2023: Dominant Jersey Women beat Guernsey
A commanding first-half display featuring four unanswered tries set the foundations for Jersey's 31-5 win over rivals Guernsey in the women's Siam Cup.
The hosts were ahead after just five minutes when forward Willow Le Luan stretched for the line to go over from close range. Despite bossing territory and going close numerous times, it took until the 25th minute for the next score, when flanker Katie de la Cloche crashed over to double the lead.
With back rower Daisy Travers in the sin bin for Guernsey, Jersey turned the screw before half time with another brace of tries. First, scrum half Ashling Magner burst through to touch down, converting her own try for a 21-0 lead, before Nancy Portsmouth got in on the act to give her side a 26-0 advantage at the break.
Guernsey upped their game in the second period, but it was Jersey who again scored next, midway through the half. Winger Georgina Ruellan went over in the corner and there was surely no way back for the Sarnians. The visitors, to their credit, battled on and deserved their late consolation from Travers, but this was Jersey's day.
Skipper Lauren Lowe, pictured above, told thegantry.je: "To do it again with the home crowd means so much to me and so much to the team. We've had a really good season this year, we came in confident today, we knew what we needed to do.
"We led from the start, took control, and I thought we brought a lot of intensity. We like to play at a fast pace, and I definitely think we brought that to the game and were rewarded for it in the first half. Fair play to Guernsey, they really came back and pushed us to our limits in the second half."
Magner, whose try and three successful conversions helped her to the player of the match award, added: "We were building all year for this moment and we're just over the moon. It's unbelievable, it's very hard to put into words.
"We really came out all guns blazing and tried to shake off the nerves as fast as we could. I think you could see at the end everyone was gassed, we just put everything on the line to try to keep them out. We're going to celebrate in style now."
Jersey RFC: Nicole Rodrigues-Ferreira, Hannah Le Moignan, Holly Bertram, Emile Langlands, Willow Le Luan, Georgie Keens, Katie de la Cloche, Andi Vaughan, Ashling Magner, Lauren Lowe (c), Georgina Ruellan, Nancy Portsmouth, Laura Turpin, Taye Boakye-Yiadom, Emily Hart. Replacements: Lucy Hart, Becka Hunter, Kim Vallance, Gemma Dufty, Lisa Souat, Saski Martins, Marion Olivier-Martin.
Guernsey Raiders: Charlie Le Noury, Becky Travers, Kayleigh Oliver (c), Fiona Power, Zoe Collins, Molly Farrell, Kristi Murphy, Daisy Travers, Yvie Coyde, Amy Fallaize, Beth Le Gallez, Sophie Burt, Chelsie Blondel, Aideen Le Prevost, Becky Ashworth. Replacements: Elin Rather, Jillian Smith, Rachel Merrien, Isabel Rabey, Marni De Freitas Alves, Rachel Dallin, Ness Brown.
Star Player: Ashling Magner (Jersey)
Referee: Mark Scoular
