It was a game which had everything; a hat-trick hero in Peter Vincenti junior; two own goals; a late Scottish equaliser to take the tie into extra time and so many half-chances and last-ditch challenges.
Even beaten manager, Bob Kearsey, was smiling at the end of the game.
‘Of course I’m disappointed but with a 6-4 scoreline, I’m not going to moan.
In the second half I felt we made our chances, and I was delighted to come back to four-all, to be back in the game.
‘Maybe it wasn’t our day.
Since being at Scottish we’ve won two championship titles, and on a day like today, you have to learn to take defeat on the chin.’ St Peter manager Jon Trigg also applauded the game first, the result second.
‘It was thoroughly entertaining.
We won – because we scored more goals than they did! – but by conceding so many goals, it could have gone either way.’ Asked about how important Vincenti’s three goals were, in such an entertaining tie, Trigg made the point that the young No 7 probably doesn’t realise how far he’s come, in such a short space of time.
‘He did well in the under-21 inter-insular; he’s scored three goals here; next week he’ll be involved in the Upton and I can also see him being part of the full Muratti.
For a lad of his age to do so much – these could be the best days of his life.’ Despite conceding a corner in the first 30 seconds, St Peter went ahead in the 12th minute following a free kick given for a foul on Vincenti 25 yards out to the left of goal.
With goalkeeper Steve Kean unsighted Chris Hamon placed a cleverly flighted ball into the top left-hand corner.
For the first time, St Peter were in front, as they were to be five times in a match which saw the Scottish score four times – but never taking the lead.
Five minutes later the sides were level.
A Bradley Vowden tackle on Scottish’s left, when he took both man and ball, produced another free kick.
This time Scottish’s No 10, David Brodie, threaded the ball to the left of the wall and to the right of Gareth Bayley to level the scores.
On 42 minutes an optimistic punt into the Scottish penalty area dipped so sharply that Kean had to punch the ball away.
But it only fell to Marco Vieira who fed it back into the middle for young Vincenti to slam it home.
The next goal, the second Scottish equaliser, was the best of the game.
Mark Brown took on two players on the right, stopped, checked and then floated over the most perfect of crosses for Chris Andrews to head home.
A 2-2 scoreline was just about right, at half-time, but then the Scottish dominated fully the next 35 minutes before in the 38th minute a seemingly innocuous cross from St Peter fell between the last line of defence and the keeper, much to Gary Freeman’s delight.
His accurate touch-on was collected by Vincenti who slotted the ball home.
With the score 3-2 to the westerners, the game seemed over before, in the 87th minute, Chris Andrews’ cross was met firmly by Mark Brown to level the scores.
Scottish were back in the match as the battle for the James Marquis Memorial Trophy went into extra time.
The next goal was the unlikeliest of the match.
Ryan Durand’s tentative cross across the penalty area was intercepted by Stuart André, running back, and the stalwart No 5 held his head in despair as the ball looped easily off the inside of his boot and into the net over a startled Kean.
Again Scottish were behind, but two minutes later the St Peter defence looked like startled rabbits as no-one even attempted a tackle on Craig Leitch, on as substitute.
He ran past two would-be tacklers, fed the ball to Crick who had all the time in the world to pick his spot and although not hit as well as he can hit them, it was 4-4.
Sadly, for last year’s champions, in the 108th minute they conceded another own goal, when Kean, under heavy pressure at a corner kick, punched the ball into his own net.
Paul Duxbury tried to palm it out but the ball had crossed the line.
For the next five minutes St Peter’s hero was keeper Bayley, whose control in the air, behind a dithering defence, was exceptional.
Thankfully for the St Peter fans their side then went two goals ahead for the first time with Vincenti’s third goal.
Taking the ball on he jinked first right, then left, before slotting home to make it 6-4.
Despite a late onslaught and another Scottish caution, St Peter clung on for a win.
Afterwards, Tim Darwin, president of the Combination, made the point that both sides had behaved with tremendous discipline during the game.
It was always a sporting contest, never a brawl.
And the last word must go to St Peter’s captain, Dean Godwin, who said: ‘Every time we scored, they kept pegging us back.
But that’s what you’d expect.
After all, they were last year’s champions.’ Jersey Scottish: S Keane, C McNabb (J Scott), L Burns, R Lumsden, S André, P Duxbury, C Andrews, R Crick, J Docherty (C Leitch), D Brodie, M Brown.
St Peter: G Bailey, S Cameron, K Crowell, M Bailey (R Durand), B Vowden, D Godwin, P Vincenti, D Maher, G Freeman, C Hamon (T Crowell), M Vieira, L Parker.
Ref: R Barry; assistants, M Le Cornu, I Solomon.
Fourth: A Cox.
