Three first half goals give battling Lions three points

Binfield had arrived as the fifth placed club in the Isthmian South Central division – fully 24 points better off than Guernsey in 18th, with each having played 22 of their 38 matches – and yet the opening half-hour was evenly matched, with plenty of attacking intent from both teams.

Man of the match Jacob Fallaize opened the scoring on 39 minutes with an emphatic header from a deftly-flighted Dave Merris corner and within five minutes, superb tenacity and skill from Ross Allen set up a chance for Matt Loaring to score his third of the season.

Then, in the fourth minute of time added on in the first half, another Merris corner – this time from the right – was sent low for Allen to run onto just inside the area and his finish evaded the visiting keeper and found the net.

A boisterous party of young fans behind the goal led the celebrations, as Guernsey went into the interval with a three-goal lead. Club statistician Matt Nichols was quickly able to establish that that had not happened for five years.

Guernsey continued to create chances in the second half but the visitors piled on the pressure for long periods and finally breached the home defence on 65 minutes when captain Liam Gavin put substitute James Beauchamp through for a one-on-one. Guernsey keeper Josh Addison forced him wide, where Conor Lynch took over to place a firm side-footed finish home.

A period of feisty and argumentative play ensued, but to Binfield’s credit, they soon reverted to ramping up pressure through attacking the opposition defence rather than the referee, as some recent opponents have opted to do.

However, with Fallaize clearing off the line and a series of chances going narrowly wide, there was no way through and the 649 supporters were able to cheer an impressive victory which edged the home side up a place in the table to 17th.

Tony Vance conceded his side were ‘still in a mess’ in terms of their league position but observed – with some relief – that the club is now ‘in a position of strength’ when it comes to playing resources.

‘We had 16 players there and lots of opportunities to make changes,’ he said.

Guernsey were forced to replace captain Jamie Dodd after 23 minutes due to injury but Vance was able to bring on Joe Alvarez in his stead.

‘Losing him so early would have been a catastrophe a few weeks ago but having both Tom Martin [in the starting line-up] and Alvarez, allowed that change and that loss to be not so bad.’

Vance admitted to having a few nerves when Binfield scored – an anxiety he will have shared with most of the crowd after some of this season’s late setbacks – but he reflected on the merits of having left two players up front, late in the game, to ensure the traffic was not all one way.