Vale in seventh heaven

Vale Rec 7, Elizabeth College 0

'MEN against boys' was an often-repeated phrase around the Corbet Field last night as Vale Rec beat Elizabeth College in the first round of the FletcherSports Guernsey FA Cup. Six of Rec's goals came in the first half-an-hour as forward Danny Bisson wrapped up a hat trick.

College were guilty of sitting too high up the pitch and the Priaulx team punished them, but the error was rectified in the second half that helped them concede only one more goal.

College captured the spirit of the cup last year as they reached the quarter-finals where they lost to Bels 5-3 in probably the game of the season. But last year's College team were a more capable outfit than the one that faced Chris Hamon's Rec side last night.

'It was men against boys,' said Hamon at the end.

'I thought it was going to be like that. To be fair to College, they did play some nice football at times, but we took our foot off the pedal in the second half.

'It's difficult to keep motivated when you're 6-0 up at half time. In general, I'm very pleased. At least we're in the hat for the next round.'

As the match started in drizzle that hung around for the whole 90 minutes, College soon learnt that the night was not going to be an easy affair for them as they let in a goal in the first minute.

Gareth Holden got on the end of a David MacNab through ball to shoot past keeper Andrew Rigden.

The students had not settled in and were soon caught out again by another through ball that Dave Woodhead latched on to. Finding himself one on one with Rigden, his shot was saved by the keeper's legs but he comfortably tucked away the rebound.

The home side's third came five minutes later as Bisson got on the end of a cross into the five yard box with a diving header.

A further minute on, the striker added his second as he was held back by defender David Davison in the box and a penalty was duly awarded by Geoff Ogier. Rigden dived the right way but could not quite keep it out.

Rec's fourth came shortly afterwards as winger Mark Ogier did well to hit a first time strike from a cross past Rigden.

On the half-hour mark, James Coquelin found Bisson in the box with a great pass and the forward got his third as he slotted the ball into an empty net.

You know when Rec are playing well as their vociferous assistant coach, Scot Johnny Reid was contently quiet.

The half-time break came and College's coach Andy Good gave his side the well overdue instruction to sit back and the results were immediate as Rec's through balls were not so venomous. Bisson missed a couple of chances and he was replaced on the hour mark by Craig Tyrrell when he picked up an ankle injury.

Tyrrell himself had a couple of chances saved by Rigden. The keeper, who also plays for Rec's Youth One side, had a fine game despite the score line.

The substitute finally got a goal on his third chance as he put away a Lee Ogier cross with minimal fuss. After this Rigden pulled off a fine save from a Mark Ramsden free kick and this was the only thing of note to happen as the game dribbled out.

'They were a bit too strong for us in the end,' said Good.

'In the first half, it was men against boys. We played a bit too deep and they got in-between us. In the second, we sat up the pitch and to comeback well was good.

'Full credit to the boys. They stuck at it.'