‘Visitors coming to try to stop us’ says Vance

With manager Tony Vance back in a rain-and-wind-lashed dugout at Footes Lane, his players gave him a welcoming seasonal gift with a performance that oozed style and confidence.

But an unluckily conceded 26th minute goal had them chasing the game until 10 minutes from time when sub Paris Pereira won a penalty and Loaring tucked it home.

Pereira twice went close to claiming all three points in the dying moments, but at the final whistle Vance wore the face of a satisfied man who can see a new team developing fast, as well as climbing the Bostik South East table.

Vance was rightly pleased with the way Pereira made a difference in the last quarter.

‘He gave us that spark. He was sharp and to be fair could have had a couple of goals himself,’ said Vance.

‘He gave us what we needed at the end.

‘They did a job on us really and as I told the lads in there, people are respecting the way we play and they are going to form brick walls. It’s quite hard to go and break teams down. They are going to give you a lot of the ball and they formed two massive sets of barriers.

‘In the second half we kept plugging away and I think bringing Glyn [Dyer] on as well made a difference. Another five minutes and I think we would have had them.

‘To be honest, though, I was frustrated.

‘In the first half we played into their hands because we did what they wanted, which was to put the ball in the box. They wanted to defend in the air.

‘We didn’t get into high enough areas wide.

‘In the end it was a half-decent point and I think it is credit to the players that teams are coming here now to try and stop us.’

The point was not enough to stop the Green Lions slipping one place into 13th, despite having taken 10 points from 15 since the middle of November.

They will be at home next week against a Three Bridges side currently sitting one spot and one point above.

• Match report in Monday's Guernsey Press.