Guernsey Press

Sharman hails his ‘fabulous group’

THE Guernsey FC players deserve the credit for pressing for all three points at Sevenoaks on Saturday, according to Steve Sharman.

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Jamie Dodd makes a tackle at Sevenoaks Town where the GFC defence made it a relatively quiet afternoon for their goalkeeper Callum Stanton. (Picture by ESA Photos, 23209767)

The GFC coach acknowledged how ‘precious’ away wins are for the Green Lions, but after enjoying the better of a goalless first half, he admitted that they could have tried to consolidate in the second and aim for a share of the spoils.

However, they kept pressing and eventually got their rewards thanks to goals from Matt Loaring and Seb Skillen that secured an impressive 2-0 triumph.

‘The players determined that [whether to go for the win] on the pitch,’ said Sharman.

‘They decided whether or not they could and they thought they could go on to win the game. We obviously wanted them to from the sidelines, but they made some really big decisions.

‘We set up thinking Sevenoaks would play a 3-5-2 formation. They didn’t, they played 4-3-3, so they reacted to that straight away, which was great.

‘Sometimes coming out after half-time our restarts can be a little bit slow so Fal [Colin Fallaize] really emphasised to them that that had to be on the money and I think we had a shot very early in the second half and took it to them.

‘Our energy levels were high, our concentration levels were very good against a team that has been on a really good run recently.

‘The players were in control of themselves and in control of the game. The performance and the result were there today so we are absolutely pleased and the players themselves are really ecstatic.

‘To have two wins in a row is really, really good for us.’

Sharman added that the Green Lions have been working particularly hard on their play in the final third of the pitch and learning to be patient rather than rush things. He felt that work, instigated by Tony Vance, was now reaping its rewards.

‘Both scorers are going to be on the list as the scorers, but Matt Loaring doesn’t score unless Will Fazakerley makes that header and Seb Skillen is not going to score unless Carlos provides the pass into the next person who makes the cross over to Seb, so they are there at the end of the product – their responsibility is to put it in the net – but there are four or five things that have gone on before that and we should recognise that.

‘The players deserve every single plaudit. I thought they were absolutely fabulous today as a group,’ he added.