Guernsey Press

WATCH: GFC finally give fans a home win to cheer

The long wait is finally over.

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Sam Murray celebrates his winning goal with his GFC teammates. (Picture by Luke Le Prevost, 31679975)

After 280 days, Guernsey FC were able to celebrate a home win with the Footes Lane faithful on Saturday as Sam Murray’s 14th-minute goal gave the Green Lions a much-needed 1-0 win over fellow Isthmian South Central strugglers Sutton Common Rovers, who played the last 40 minutes or so with 10 men following the dismissal of Joshua Okpolokpo for two bookable offences.

GFC manager Tony Vance admitted that it was a relief to be able to talk about a first victory on home soil this season and added that the tension was palpable throughout the stadium as his sidec clung onto their lead.

  • Watch: Reaction from GFC manager Tony Vance

‘Obviously there’s a lot of nerves from everybody – from the crowd, on the bench – because the three points were so massive for us, so hugely important, and particularly against a team who we are going to be fighting for survival with,’ he said.

‘So the players were obviously nervous. They don’t know how to close a game out, they probably wanted the whistle to end it or get that little bit of luck. It would have been nice if Muzza had put that one [chance] away right at the end and we could have breathed a sigh of relief, but at the end of the day it’s three points.

‘It doesn’t matter how it comes because we have played well at some points this season and got absolutely nothing, so we’ll take that. It wasn’t the best performance in the world, but that’s the way it is.’

Although they remain bottom of the table, GFC are now level on points with Tooting & Mitcham United, whose game against Merstham, just one point above them, was postponed.

The Green Lions also closed to within two points of their opponents, who have played four games more than them.

‘I said to the boys before the game, after this game we are only at halfway, we’ve still got 19 games left to go, that’s a lot of points to pick up,’ Vance said.

‘It’s all well and good saying that, but the first half of the season, those first 19 games, have been woeful and haven’t been good enough, so we’ve got a second chance now to try and put that area right.

‘But that’s down to the players now, they’ve got to turn up and train, they’ve got to fight for a shirt, they got to not sulk when they are not in the squad. Someone like Brandon [Wallace], for example, has been hanging around since the start of the season, waiting for his chance, and now he is our go-to player at the moment, so if players can show his attitude over the next 19 games, we’ll have a chance.’

  • Match report in Monday's Guernsey Press