Jason Batiste scored one try and had a helping hand in others as Guernsey beat Bognor at Foote’s Lane. (Picture by Tom Tardif, 0701931)
Guernsey 36, Bognor 8
THIS was just what Guernsey were after – a morale boosting win before the big one.
Moments of brilliance from the home side had the crowd purring as they cut through the Bognor defence in a six-try triumph that showed plenty of promise ahead of the trip to Jersey in two weeks to defend the Siam Cup.
Captain Simon Sharrott admitted that his troops were ‘really looking forward to hopping across the sea’ on Saturday 2 May and acknowledged that the next couple of weeks will be unlike any other during the season.
‘I wish they could be like this for every game,’ he said with a knowing laugh that the Siam Cup just brings out something extra in the players.
‘Training will probably be a little less intense on Tuesday just to nurse any knocks from this game, but then it will be full on from Thursday onwards.
‘There are certainly improvements to be made – the intensity around the breakdown for sure – but this win has given us plenty to build on.’
There was a lot to applaud from the Greens at Foote’s Lane on Saturday even though it was a patchy game.
They started very brightly and after seeing one early chance come to nothing, they crossed the line in the fifth minute.
Back rowers Nick Barton and Robyn Le Cocq did the hard work to burst through the Bognor defence inside the visitors’ 22 and Blair Campbell was on hand to score a try that Barton converted.
Bognor’s response to falling behind was impressive and they camped in the Guernsey half for the best part of 15 minutes before finally being given a chance to turn their possession into points.
However, David Sweeney’s penalty from just outside the 22 clattered into the top of the left-hand post and rebounded to safety.
Bognor were made to rue that miss just a minute later thanks to an outstanding Guernsey try.
Fullback Cameron Patten got the ball rolling, fielding a clearance on the halfway line and running it back with interest.
The ball was moved right through Jim Elliott and a sublime pass from Campbell to Jason Batiste, who still had plenty to do but the young centre backed himself to make the line and spun through a couple of tackles to do just that. Barton’s conversion made it 14-0.
Sweeney cut the deficit to 11 points with a successful penalty following a high tackle, but Guernsey’s reply was swift with a backline move taken straight off the training ground.
It was superbly worked by Campbell and Batiste using Jordan Reynalds as the decoy runner and suddenly Batiste was streaking clear with only one defender to beat. The centre drew that man before offloading to Patten and he finished under the sticks.
In between their three excellent tries, though, Guernsey had been penalised several times for hands in the ruck and after a final warning they had Darren Jones sent to the sin bin with seven minutes to play in the first half.
Bognor made the most of their one-man advantage thanks to their most threatening player, livewire scrum half Billy Toone, who scooted in at the corner from a scrum 10m out.
That was, though, the only time Guernsey were to be breached.
The lead was back up to 18 points early in the second half with Bradley Choules throwing a pinpoint long lineout to Barton, who had an unhindered run to the line.
Reynalds then touched down to complete what some were calling the try of the season – a flowing move from right to left with some terrific handling from the likes of Le Cocq, Campbell, Patten and Batiste.
The scoring was completed 15 minutes from time with Elliott diving in at the corner after Guernsey had worked through several phases to inch closer to the line.
‘The game was a bit disjointed and we found it hard to find the structured game which we wanted, but we did score some brilliant tries,’ said Sharrott.
‘I thought young Jason Batiste was very good both in attack and defence. He made some great line breaks, although Blair makes it very easy for whoever is playing outside him with his quality.
‘To win 36-8 against a competitive outfit who are above us in the league is a good win in my book.’
So the league campaign has ended – now for the Siam.London Three South-West: Bognor beaten
Article posted on 20th April, 2009 - 2.29pm
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