Jersey men make Island Games semis but women are out

Jersey's men have not lost an island Games football match since 2015

Jersey's men edged into the Island Games semi-finals after a dramatic 2-2 draw with Shetland to top their three-team group.

Facing the 2005 gold medallists on the 20th anniversary of their title win the reigning champions started well and went in front after 28 minutes when Euan Brodie's right-footed shot across the face of goal crept in at the far post.

Three minutes later Jersey were 2-0 up as Lewis Harness' mistake in the area was pounced on by Connor Maher and his powerful effort deflected off the underside of the bar and over the line.

Shetland pulled a goal back seven minutes later when Lorn McNiven headed home from six yards from James Aitkin's curled free kick from the right.

But soon after Jersey were down to 10 men when Frank Tobin was shown a straight red card for a dangerous high challenge on John Allan.

Seven minutes after the restart Shetland also had a man sent off as Stuart Copland brought down Will Yates when he was through on goal.

Shetland threw on attackers to try and salvage something from the game and Sam Maver and Calvin Leask went close as the half wore on.

And they were rewarded for their endeavour when Maver thundered a left-footed free-kick into the top corner from the edge of the Jersey box with eight minutes left.

Jersey goalkeeper Harry Gladdish did well to save Jack Clubb's stoppage time header as Shetland tried in vain for a winner before Jersey's Robert Martins-Figueira had a shot cleared off the line.

But the draw was enough to see Jersey go top of their group after their 2-0 win over Gozo on Monday - a side Shetland drew 0-0 with on Sunday.

"That was a hard match," Brodie told BBC Channel Islands as his side prepares for Thursday's semi-finals.

"They got a second goal, but we held our own.

"We only needed a draw to go through and I'm buzzing that we're through."

Jersey's women missed out on the semi-finals for a second successive Island Games

Meanwhile Jersey's women are out of football medal contention after finishing second in their group.

Despite a 4-0 win over the Isle of Wight with 10 players for the second half Jersey finished second in their group three points off winners Bermuda.

Having lost to reigning champions Bermuda on Sunday Jersey went on to beat Shetland 3-1 to keep their semi-final hopes alive.

They had been hoping for a place as the best second-placed side over the three groups but Gozo finished second in Group A with a better record than Jersey.

It is the second successive Island Games that Jersey have missed out on the medal rounds having missed out on a semi-final place two years ago due to an administrative error.

Roisin Flynn gave Jersey a 26th-minute lead as she tapped in Anita Tavares' pass before the Channel islanders had a penalty appeal turned down soon after.

Jersey were reduced to 10 players seconds before the interval when Tiffany Sundby was sent off after bringing down an opponent who was through on goal.

Despite being a player down Flynn doubled the tally 18 minutes into the second half as she fired in low after breaking down the right of the penalty area before Sam Silva-Pinto added an excellent third soon after.

Flynn completed her hat-trick with around 10 minutes left as she crashed an effort off the bar that appeared to go over the line, although Silva-Pinto made sure as the stabbed it home as Jersey ended the group stages on a high.