´óÏó´«Ã½

Jersey's footballers have begun their Uefa Regions' Cup campaign with a 1-0 defeat against the Italian region of Lazio in Rome.

Jersey had the best of the first half - Jake Prince with an early header saved, while goalkeeper Euan van der Vliet reacted well to a scramble in the box.

Fraser Barlow had a cross cleared off the line with 15 minutes left of an, at times, heated second half.

But Daniel Rossi's volley 10 minutes from full-time sealed the win.

The effort was Lazio's first of the game and was taken well with his left foot from inside the area after a lofted ball over the top of the Jersey defence.

Rossi should have sealed the win three minutes later when he was put through on goal as Jersey tried to get an equaliser, but he blazed over after rounding Van der Vliet.

Adam Trotter then saw a late long-range effort go just over after getting on the end of a poorly cleared corner while Van der Vliet almost got on the end of a free-kick floated into the box in the final seconds as he went up to try and find a leveller.

Jersey qualified to represent England in the tournament after winning the FA Inter-League Cup in May 2021, and have games against teams representing Germany and North Macedonia.

The islanders face Germany on Sunday in their second game - the side from Bavaria are top of the group on goal difference having beaten North Macedonia 2-0 in their opening match.