Jersey Bulls finish third after dramatic final day
Jersey Bulls will be at home in their play-off semi-final after finishing third in the table
- Published
Jersey Bulls ensured a third-placed finish in Isthmian League South East after a 3-0 win over Hastings United at Springfield.
The victory on the final day of the season saw Bulls finish in the highest-ever place by a Channel Island side in the English league system - beating Guernsey FC's fourth-placed finish at the same level 12 years ago.
Bulls looked as though they would end the season in second place until AFC Croydon Athletic scored an equaliser deep in stoppage time to draw 2-2 with struggling Sheppey United to keep them in second place.
Bulls did leapfrog AFC Whyteleafe into third after they drew 2-2 with mid-table Herne Bay.
The finish comes in Jersey Bulls' first season in the eighth tier of English football after winning promotion via the play-offs a year ago.
It means Bulls will host AFC Whyteleafe at Springfield on Tuesday night in the semi-finals.
AFC Croydon Athletic and Sittingbourne will contest the other semi-final, with the final on Friday, 1 May.
Bulls - who have not lost a game in 2026 - got off to an excellent start as top-scorer Lorne Bickley smashed home James Sunley's sixth-minute pass.
Bickley narrowly missed a second as his curling effort went just wide of the post five minutes before half-time.
Miguel Carvalho made the points safe when he tapped in Toby Ritzema's cross with 10 minutes to go, before Ritzema made it 3-0 on the stroke of full-time.
"I think it was important that we got an opportunity to play at home again on Tuesday, a quick turnaround, make teams travel to us so we're happy with our day's work," Jersey Bulls manager Elliot Powell told BBC Radio Jersey.
"You saw a better performance in that second-half, I think the subs helped - they injected energy into a game which was always going to be difficult - to have high tempo to a game when it's this hot on the surface, so every credit.
"Every lad's made a difference today and we've got over the line.
"We've got what we wanted at the start of the day which was a home semi-final and the opportunity now with a home final as well, depending on what happens between Croydon and Sittingbourne."
