Eastbourne Nomads' long journey across the channel for a tough fixture against the Jersey Royals was never going to be a simple seaside trip and this titanic battle proved to be one for the history books! Playing in good weather conditions, the Nomads delivered a performance full of character, fighting back from a significant deficit to secure a dramatic, last-minute 36-34 victory.

The drama began early, with the Royals exploiting Eastbourne's long travel legs to race into a 14-0 lead within 11 minutes. An early blow saw the Nomads sadly lose the rapid Justin Funnell to a serious foot injury, we wish him a speedy recovery.

Despite the early pressure, the Nomads started finding their footing, with a penalty from Adam Blennerhassett stopping the rot. The fightback was officially on when Alun Cranch burst over for Eastbourne's first try, keeping the Nomads firmly in the contest, the Royals kicked a penalty shortly after to leave the half-time score of 17-8 to the Royals.

A frantic start to the second half saw the Nomads' backline magic start to shine, with Martial Chaput and Pedro Sousa both dotting down to wrestle the lead to 17-22 just after the 53 minute mark. The middle of the second half saw the Royals roar back, dominating the scoreboard with a flurry of tries and conversions to build a commanding lead, stretching the gap to a seemingly insurmountable 34-22.

But this Nomads squad of worker bees does not know the meaning of giving up. As the pressure mounted, the Royals' discipline crumbled, resulting in two yellow cards late in the game, a turning point the Nomads ruthlessly exploited. With the Royals down to 13 men, the Nomads smelt blood. Martial Chaput, whose playmaking alongside Blennerhassett was simply magnifique, grabbed his second try to bring the score back to 34-29 after the conversion. The clock ticked down, the tension was unbearable, and the Nomads were now hunting the unlikeliest of victories.

The clock was almost up when the Nomads' moment of genius arrived. Adam Blennerhassett, who delivered a Man of the Match display, created the winning moment himself in the 78th minute: with the Royals defence rushing up, he executed an incredible chip over the defence, chased it down, fly-hacked the ball on into the in goal area, and won the race to score under the posts! The try brought Eastbourne level at 34-34.

The pressure of the kick to win the game was palpable, but Blennerhassett calmly slotted the conversion to put the Nomads ahead 36-34!

The final reset was a nervous affair, but the forwards carried hard as they did all game and managed to secure the ball. The final act belonged to the brilliant scrum-half Louis Nicholls, who controlled the pace all game, he cleared the ball to touch to seal the dramatic two-point win! Well done to the entire squad for a famous 2nd away victory in Jersey.

The Nomads would like to dedicate this win to Bob Bremer, a great supporter of the club who sadly passed away in August, he sponsored the Nomads trip to Jersey twice previously and meant a lot to us all.