JERSEY REDS kept up their 100% winning record with a nailbiting 19-17 win over Doncaster Knights.
Not for the first time at the Stade Santander, it was a tale of two halves thanks to the wind.
Reds were looking pretty comfortable going into the break, with all of their 19 points coming in the first half without response.
TJ Harris got the ball over the line to put the home side in front after 17 minutes of play.
More good work from the Jersey forward line helped Scott van Breda put down for Reds’ second try before Will Brown finished off a well-worked move, though on this occasion Russell Bennett was unable to convert for the extra points.
However, Knights were quick off the block in the second half. Fly-half Sam Olver registered an early score, which he then converted for the extra two.
The match then started to heat up as tempers flared from both teams. Doncaster were down to 13 men at one point but Reds could not capitalise on their advantage.
Nevertheless, the win looked like being in the bag, despite Knights scoring a second try with just two minutes to go through Harry Davey, though, crucially, Olver missed the conversion.
That should have been that until Knights gave one final push in the closing seconds to score a third try through Mak Wilson.
For literally the last kick of the game, Olver had the chance to call it a draw with a relatively straight forward conversion. But he couldn’t hold his nerve, and the Reds could celebrate another tough win.
Full report and reaction in Monday’s JEP.
