Watch: Griffin, 16, scores debut goal as GFC start with win
A goal from 16-year-old debutant Jack Griffin was the highlight of a thrilling comeback victory for Guernsey FC at Footes Lane on Saturday, as they turned a 1-0 half-time deficit into a 3-1 victory over Westfield in the opening game of their latest Isthmian South Central campaign.
Griffin – who celebrated his 16th birthday just last month – was introduced with 17 minutes left on the clock, shortly after Ross Allen had produced an equaliser.
Just seven minutes later, he had the Green Lions ahead through an emphatic left-foot finish after a perfectly-weighted through-ball from Charlton Gauvain.
'Tony told me to make the runs and I saw the opportunity to make the run when I saw Charlton look up and I just went for it,' Griffin said.
'Then I saw the ball and I just hit it. I thought about cutting in but then I thought “no, just go for it”.'
Vance warned that 'we've got to keep calm' about the potential of the young Sylvans player, but could not resist making a comparison with a former Green Lion who recently moved to the Premier League for a reported £25m., as he runs Alex Scott close as youngest GFC debutant.
'I'm really excited for him but we and Sylvans have got to get the balance right. He’s got to be dipped in and out at the right time.'
Vance admitted he had considered not including Griffin in the squad, after he had played two matches in the previous week.
'But in the end I had a feeling that he might do something – funnily enough a similar gut feeling that I had about Tim Ap Sion [who scored on his GFC debut and was quickly snapped up by Bristol City] and look what happened there.'
An overhead kick by Gauvain completed the scoring.
‘I think that’s about [another] 27 points needed and we’ve survived,’ said Vance.
Match report in Monday's Guernsey Press