Jersey 0 Yorkshire Carnegie 34: Carnegie set '˜right tone' for the play-offs

Carnegie racked up a convincing win as they finished the regular season in third place, and ahead of a two-legged play-off semi-final with county rivals Doncaster Knights, head coach Bryan Redpath insists they have adopted the right mindset as the push for promotion intensifies.

Redpath said: “We spoke this week about this group of players setting a tone for what is to come in the next few weeks and they certainly did that.

“Some of these guys are leaving the club this summer but they produced a brilliant performance today for one another.”

Andy Forsyth started the ball rolling with an interception try from halfway. Joel Hodgson then crossed for the second Carnegie score but Harry Leonard, who had earlier converted Forsyth’s score, was off target. Leonard and Williams then contrived to send Oli Goss over, and with Leonard’s conversion, Carnegie had already built a commanding 19-0 interval lead.

The one-way traffic continued in the second half , but this time it was the forwards who provided the platform, Andy Saull benefiting from a catch and drive. Backs Taylor Prell and Peter Lucock then finished off two fine moves to complete a highly satisfactory away day for Carnegie.

Jersey: Adair; Howe, Evans, Robling, Lane; Penberthy, Dudley; Woolmore, Selway, Kerrod, Campbell, Phillips, Rae, Freeman, Spinks. Replacements: McCarthy, Garcia-Veiga, Herriott, Markham, Owen, Fisilau, Cooke.

Yorkshire Carnegie: Hodgson; Goss, Forsyth, Lucock, Prell; Leonard, Green; Beech, Walker, Hooper, Ryder, Smith, Beck, Saull, Williams. Replacements: Graham, Imiolek, Tideswell, Schofield, Barnard, Stegmann, Doherty.

Elsewhere, Carnegie’s opponents in the play-offs, Doncaster Knights suffered a rare defeat as their Championship regualr season campaign drew to a disappointing close.

Nic Reynolds and a penalty try gave London Welsh – who have under-achieved this season given they were relegated from the top flight last term – a 12-0 lead before David McIlwaine set up Paul Jarvis to pull a try back.

However, Guy Armitage broke a series of tackles and raced home to give Welsh a 17-5 interval lead. Doncaster pulled to within five points after the restart when McIlwaine this time fed Bevon Armitage who barged over; Dougie Flockhart on target with the conversion.

This gave the Knights added belief and despite being pinned back in their own territory they still fashioned an opportunity to take the lead; Ollie Bryant intercepting a pass and racing 80 metres to score a try that with Flockhart’s conversion gave Knights a two-point advantage. However, the lead was short-lived as Reynolds fed Chris Elder to score the devisive try.

Jarvis had a ‘try’ chalked off at the end that would have given Doncaster at least a share of the spoils instead of the solitary losing bonus point.