Guernsey Press

First-half double lays foundations

GUERNSEY made the perfect start to the Ynys Mon Inter-Games Tournament group stage with a hard-fought 2-1 triumph against Shetland Islands.

Published
Blue skies but troublesome winds greeted Guernsey for their opening game: Scorer Sam Hall cuts in off the right to put pressure on the Shetland goal. (Picture by David Saffer, 24976338)

Both goals came in the first half, Keanu Marsh scoring the all important first goal on 20 minutes with a clinical strike from just inside the penalty area before Sam Hall struck a second from close range to secure victory.

‘To be fair, it wasn’t easy for us, but it’s just great we got the points,’ said manager Chris Tardif at the final whistle.

‘Today was all about the win. We played some good football in parts and had to fight for our lives in others.

‘Fair play to them, to a man they stayed strong, scored early in the second half and we had to grind out a result today.

‘We lacked a bit of composure for 10-15 minutes in the second half and that’s when they got back into the game. I thought we enjoyed possession in parts, but again the wind was a big part of the game and I think we’re going to have to get used to it here. It just shows us that we can dig in if we need to, which is a good thing to fall back on.’

  • More in Tuesday's Guernsey Press.