Hornsey Cricket Club's U11s enjoyed a memorable trip to Jersey ahead of the new season recently.

A party of 12 arrived at Jersey National Cricket Centre almost straight from the airport for the first of three matches (pairs rules) and produced a solid display in the field.

Charlie and Violet impressed with the ball, with Walt claiming the first wicket and Maceo holding onto the first catch of the weekend off Connie's bowling.

Wicketkeeper Alex R shone behind the stumps as the Walkovers made 237 from their 20 overs.

And there were fine shots by Connie and Violet in reply, but Hornsey could not recover from a shaky start against some excellent bowlers, including mystery leg-spinners.

A total of 14 wickets fell during the Hornsey innings, with Walt the only batter to remain unbeaten as they fell to an 18-run defeat.

Hornsey batted first against Chirpy's and showed good defence against a testing attack.

Henry waited for the bad ball, which he sent to the square leg boundary, as undefeated pairing of Violet and Connir accumulated calmly.

Alex R pulled a huge six and Charlie glanced for four as Hornsey lost just seven wickets this time around to post a competitive 259.

The locals raced to 240 by the seven-over mark in reply, but Oscar bowled tightly and the pressure led to a run out by Charlie.

Frank then forced an edge and Alex J took a fine catch, before adding another run out, but Chirpy's pulled clear before an excellent last over from Stanley saw him hit the stumps and Oscar produce another run out as some consolation in a 27-run loss.

The final match of the tour was a proper 20-over contest against Jersey U11s, but Hornsey were hit by injuries to Alex R, Alex J, Oscar and Henry during a net session.

Charlie and Stanley bowled early maidens, with Violet also keeping things tight in the fifth over and George conceding only seven runs from his two overs.

Jersey were 33-0 after eight overs, before Connie made the breakthrough as Charlie took an excellent high catch when running in.

But the run rate crept up in the second half of the Jersey innings despite Oscar conceding only two singles in the 13th over, to reach 88-1 after the 16th.

Charlie (2-15) and Stanley (1-18) combined for three late wickets to hold Jersey to 107-4, before Alex J went out to open with Walt in place of Henry.

They survived the first 23 balls, scoring 13, before Walt edged behind but Alex then hit a huge six over square leg off their leg-spinning tormentor from two days previous and would remain at the crease until the 16th over for his 26 runs.

Stanley had been caught behind off an excellent ball, but Hornsey were left needing 31 off 29 balls and Oscar took singles at every opportunity as Alex R attacked anything loose.

Walt and Dan kept the scoreboard ticking over, while Alex smashed boundaries in consecutiev overs to keep Hornsey in the hunt.

Needing 10 runs from the final over to be bowled by the speedy Leo, who had conceded just four from his first two overs, Hornsey saw the first two fly past Alex's bat.

But a skewed cover drive went to the third man boundary and a single left Hornsey needing five from two.

Oscar's late cut to third man levelled the scores and although the last ball beat the bat, Alex raced in from the non-striker's end as Oscar dashed to the bowler to seal a seven-wicket win.

"The experience will stay with the kids for the rest of their lives," said a club spokesperson.

"They learnt about losing gracefully and winning gracefully, about independence, perseverace, courage and learning from mistakes, and above all about togetherness."