Jersey resumed their travels with a visit to Banstead Athletic. Situated just over a mile south of Epsom racecourse, home of The Derby and The Oaks.

Banstead have been in the Combined Counties League since being relegated from the Isthmian League in 2006. They then slipped down to Division 1 in 2012 but won that title in 2017 since when they have been a mid-table team in the Premier Division. However, this season has been a struggle. They sat 19th of 20 teams with just one win, and that was away. They also went out of the F.A. Cup and the F.A. Vase in the opening rounds of both. They have however held Redhill and Horley to draws and only lost by a solitary goal at Walton & Hersham.

Jersey made two changes to their starting line up against Guildford last week. Kamen Nafkha, returning from illness, displaced Joe Kilshaw and Karl Hinds replaced the suspended Calvin Weir after Weir’s dismissal last week. Jake Prince was unavailable as was Ruben Mendes-Pestana, who was serving the third of his three match ban, after being sent off at Raynes Park Vale. Kilshaw was on the bench along with Jack Griffin and Kieran Lester.

The early afternoon was overcast with a damp feel as Jersey kicked off attacking the Merland Rise (South-West) end. Behind this goal was the rubble from Sutton United’s ground after they were promoted to the Football League and had to revert to a grass surface. Banstead intend to use this as the base for an artificial pitch of their own.

The Bulls had most of the early possession and after eight minutes Fraser Barlow hit the right post with a shot that Billy Wilson, the Banstead ‘keeper, seemed to think was going wide. A minute later Sol Solomon almost rounded Wilson after a cross field pass from Barlow. His first touch was not as assured as it normally is and the consequent narrow angle and bobbly pitch thwarted his attempt to score.

It took until just after the half hour for Jersey to obtain the goal that their possession deserved. Karl Hinds played the ball in to Solomon who laid it off to the overlapping Jonny Le Quesne to rifle the ball into the roof of the net. This remained the score until the interval when Jersey must have thought that they should have already had the match sewn up.

The Bulls came out strongly in the second half and Bickley had a headed “goal” ruled out for offside. However, two minutes later Jersey scored their second. A Solomon free kick was partially cleared only as far as Hinds. He set up Solomon who took it down, beat a defender, and with the outside of his right boot curled the ball in to the left corner where it rebounded back into “play” off the stanchion. A quick check was required by the youthful referee, Stephen Matthews, before the score was confirmed.

The referee was not so popular just before the hour when a Bickley penalty appeal turned in to a caution for “simulation”. Banstead came back with a shot across the face of goal and a looping header, at last forcing a save from Euan Van der Vliet.

Solomon eventually put the match “to bed” with just over ten minutes left. Receiving a pass from Barlow he cut inside from the left before scoring his 22nd goal of the season. In added time Bickley hit a cross shot that bobbled past the far post as Jersey gained a comfortable victory that might have been even more decisive. The win briefly put Jersey up to fourth in the division before the results from later kick-offs moved them back to sixth.

Banstead Athletic 0, Jersey Bulls 3 (Jonny Le Quesne 31, Sol Solomon (2) 54 & 79)

Attendance – 66

Programme – 12 pages, gratis (online only)

Banstead Athletic – Billy Wilson, Emmanuel Akiotu, Joe Adoo-Peters, Jan Mussington, Nikolai Krokhin, Lewis Taylor, Ben Jones, Nathaniel Oseni, Liam Holden, Washington Omenyi, Stephen Newman(c)
Substitutes – Khalid Abbas (for Omenyi 80), William Crozier (for Holden 71), Enea Zouka (for Mussington 73), Alex Stingelin (for Akiotu 80). Only four substitutes.

All Yellow; GK Light Green

Carl Taylor (Manager), Bradley Graham (Coach), John Chinnery (Coach), Lorcan Francis (Squad member)

Jersey Bulls – Euan Van der Vliet, Jonny Le Quesne, Jay Giles, James Queree (c), Luke Campbell, Kamen Nafkha, Fraser Barlow, Adam Trotter, Lorne Bickley, Karl Hinds, Sol Solomon
Substitutes – Jack Griffin (for Le Quesne 86), Joe Kilshaw (for Nafkha 83), Kieran Lester (for Barlow 80). Only three substitutes.

Red/White/White; GK Green

Gary Freeman (Manager), Kevan Nelson (Assistant), Dan Seviour (Coach), Richard Hebert (GK Coach)

Referee – Stephen Matthews (Wembley)

Assistants – Roger Wells (Coulsdon) and Mark Edwards (Sutton)

Cautions – Barlow (JB) 44, Bickley (JB) 59, Jones (BA) 90

Corners – Banstead Athletic (2) 2; Jersey Bulls (2) 3

Player of the Match Award (online votes) – Solomon 18, Hinds 8, Trotter 4, Le Quesne 1