'Two bits of quality made the difference'
MURATTI manager Tony Vance hailed match-winner Charlton Gauvain as his squad flew out of Alderney with the ‘job done’ and heading to the Close Finance Muratti final showdown in Jersey on 21 May.
The midfielder scored both goals as Guernsey overcame the semi-final hosts and Vance, back in the Muratti dug-out for the first time since 2011, said his team were comfortable in a 2-0 win.
‘Jason [Martin] didn’t have a save to make. Alderney put in a lot of endeavour, a lot of huff and puff. An early goal could have opened them up, but otherwise you just have to stick with it.
‘Two bits of quality from Charlton made the difference, and he was head and shoulders above everyone else on the pitch.
‘Nobody could have complained if we’d won by more goals, but we weren’t ruthless enough with the opportunities we had. We didn’t carve them up and they defended our set pieces very well.’
Vance played Gauvain in a central midfield role at Mount Hale, which he accepts is the player’s favourite position, even though he plays wide right for Guernsey FC.
‘He clearly relished it. Charlton needs to get fit and stay fit and make sure he’s strong enough, and if he ticks all those boxes he will be the mainstay of Guernsey teams for many years to come.’
Vance’s other team finished their return season in the Isthmian League with a 4-1 defeat away at Hanwell Town. Seb Skillen gave the Green Lions a first-half lead, but once goalkeeper Lucas Hanley went off with injury their challenge faded, as striker Glenn Le Tissier volunteered between the sticks.
Vance said the club could and should have finished the season higher up the league.
‘If I’m honest we’ve under-achieved. That sounds silly given what we’ve been up against, but I wanted to finish a few places higher and we were maybe one or two results away from that.’
More in Monday's Guernsey Press.
