‘We didn't know what to do' – GFC’s Vance
‘A miserable day and a miserable performance,’ was how Guernsey FC manager Tony Vance summed up his team’s latest set back, going down 2-0 to Uxbridge at Footes Lane on Sunday.
The result leaves GFC second-bottom of the Isthmian League South Central Division, but three points would have seen them leapfrog their match day opponents and make a significant jump up the table. At present they sit bottom of a group of five teams on six points.
But a goal in each half was enough to outgun the Green Lions, who drew a blank in front of goal for the sixth time in nine matches this season.
‘The thing that disappointed me and frustrated me most of all was that we didn’t really have an idea what to do,’ said Vance.
‘I have to take it on the chin and try to work out why.
‘The players should have enough in their locker to know what to do and the mindset on the pitch, if things aren’t working, to try something else.
‘It was a miserable day and a miserable performance.’
Listen to this week's Guernsey Press Football Podcast, featuring GFC reaction plus a full interview on Vale Rec's remarkable comeback
He said the team was ‘missing Charlton [Gauvain] badly’ and that not one player had had a good game.
An operation means Gauvain remains unavailable, however, so Vance will have to look elsewhere. He was seen in discussion with Dave Rihoy, now with North, shortly after the game.
GFC face 12th-placed Chipstead away from home on Saturday.
But there are smiles at the Corbet Field as Vale Rec celebrated one of the most remarkable comebacks ever seen in Priaulx League football, overcoming a 4-0 half-time deficit against the Channel Islands champions St Martin’s to win 5-4.
‘I’ve never seen anything like it,’ said coach Mark Romeril, speaking on the Guernsey Press football podcast, out now.
‘I thought we couldn’t get any worse, being 3-0 down, they have a player sent off, and then it was 4-0. I thought that was the final nail in the coffin.
‘We were disappointed and frustrated on how we performed first half. But we made a few changes and tweaked a few things.’
Club captain Glenn Le Tissier, who scored Vale’s first two goals, said his side grew in belief once they had grabbed one goal back.
‘The belief started flowing through us. The first half we were dreadful, but we went from one extreme to the other.
‘From one of the worst 45 minutes I’ve had in a yellow shirt to probably the best.’
St Martin’s have the chance to get that result out of their system when they line up against Belgrave Wanderers at Blanche Pierre Lane tonight in the Guernsey FA Cup. Kick off is at 7.30.
