This Is Guernsey

(Left to right) Panthers’ Illona Szymczyk and Wendy Burnett try to block Sam Le Marquand’s spike. (Picture by Rob Currie, 0567381)

NEITHER Savills side got the win they sought when they travelled to Jersey for the Upton matches.

Although the women’s team have been away from the Upton set-up for two years, their form this season promised to put them in a good position to take the trophy, but their encounter with 2e2 Panthers proved to be particularly frustrating.

In past years, inter-insular and Upton matches have had a neutral referee to avoid disputes. This was not to be the case for this Upton as a Jersey official took to the stand.

In the first set Savills setter Elizabeth Kimber was blown up five consecutive times for handling infringements, despite the team considering them to be clean contacts. The 2e2 Panthers’ handling did not seem to be given the same scrutiny.

That unsettled Savills and, although they fought on, it was with an air of uncertainty and they lost the set 22-25.

Savills started the second set determined to make a fresh start. Andi Pettitt found things difficult through the outside as Jersey moved their tallest player, Michelle Hervieu, who blocked Pettitt consistently. That reduced Savills’ attacking options and forced them to work hard but they deservedly took the set 25-21.

The third saw long rallies and Savills discovered that they needed to find the floor to score as again they felt the referee was inconsistent with handling decisions.

A fantastic pick-up by Sandy Ozanne was followed by the referee indicating that the ball had hit the floor, to the despair of the Guernsey team and supporters.

That rattled the Savills side and they seemed to lose their fight and consequently the set 22-25.

Savills’ coaches gave lots of encouragement and enthusiasm at the change of ends before the fourth set. They knew that their girls were giving everything, but there was nothing that coaches or players could do to improve the situation.

More of the Savills girls got despondent and neither team appeared to be enjoying the game. After many long rallies, Jersey finally pipped the Guernsey girls to the post, taking the set 26-24 and with it the Upton Trophy.

Savills’ men suspected that they would have a tough match when they took on Pentagon Red Hot Tomatoes as the side included a number of the players from the recent inter-insulars.

Jersey indeed fielded a strong side with a couple of very good players, but Guernsey considered them to be beatable.

Although Savills never got into gear, they were able to match Jersey almost point for point.

Each set followed the same path – points were traded until around halfway when Savills’ unforced errors mounted up and gave Jersey the advantage.

Throughout, Savills failed to play to their strengths and, as the pressure mounted, the dig started to stray, resulting in a lack of variations in the attack.

The defence remained consistent through the match, but the unforced errors and lack of attack were Savills’ undoing and they lost the match in straight sets.

It was a very different story in the junior inter-insular match, which had been held earlier in the day.

Despite losing the first set, Guernsey went on to win 3-1.

The Sarnians got off to a slightly nervous start in the first set and soon found themselves trailing. But once the nerves had settled, the team started to play some good three-touch volleyball.

On the back of pin-point serving from Ollie Brehaut, Guernsey got themselves back into the set, but despite making substitutions, they had left it too late to recover.

Having found the measure of the Jersey team, Guernsey made some tactical changes and, with the introduction of Paul Cave, they moved up a gear and always looked a bit too strong for the opposition, taking the next set with relative ease to level the match.

The third followed a similar pattern and, with Shaun Lindfield blocking well, Guernsey managed to stay ahead throughout, taking the fourth and the match.

Coach Peter Walden praised the team for ‘a squad effort with all the players playing their part in the win’.