Gallagher stuns GFC with his late ‘worldie’
More late drama at Footes Lane – but this time it was Guernsey FC players left strewn across the pitch in disappointment at the final whistle.
Despite having taken the lead for the second time in the match when Ross Allen calmly converted an 86th minute penalty, the Green Lions were left with nothing to show for their efforts as Raynes Park Vale snatched all three points with two goals in five minutes.
While the equaliser was a scrappy one forced home from close range by Charlie Penny, the winner in the third minute of injury time was an absolute screamer from Jordan Gallagher, who let fly from 25 yards and found the back of the net via the underside of the bar.
The Garenne Stand was stunned into silence, bar the two Raynes Park Vale committee members who joyously celebrated that wonder strike which got their play-off ambitions back on track.
Less than 10 minutes earlier, GFC looked as if they were about to jump a couple of places in Isthmian South Central by beating the fifth-placed outfit, but it was not to be and their manager admitted they did not deserve to on the night.
‘I’ve got to be honest, even at 2-1 up, it would’ve been daylight robbery, really,’ said Tony Vance after the 3-2 defeat.
His side had started the match impressively and deservedly went ahead when Charlton Gauvain won a challenge with visiting goalkeeper Isaac Ogunseri just outside of the box and the ball rolled into the empty net in the 24th minute.
But GFC were unable to press on and Gallagher brought Vale level direct from a corner before half-time.
The visitors were in the ascendancy for much of the second half, but GFC managed to ride that storm and edged ahead through Allen’s penalty after Kieran Mahon had been shoved over in the box on a counter-attack instigated by Jacques Cauvin.
However, that joy was very short-lived.
‘We were great for 20 minutes in the first half and then lost our way a little bit,’ Vance said.
‘I didn’t think they were a fantastic team, to be honest, and they were only going to score from our mistakes or a cross, which I say quite a lot in this league.
‘But then second half, we were rattled in terms of we just couldn’t get any build up of possession.
‘Players were knackered as well, so I would say that we were hanging on for about 44 minutes in the second half and looked like we were going to get some real luck for once.
‘Unfortunately, every time they had a corner, they look like they’re going to score.
‘All their goals were from our mistakes, but the bloke’s still hit a worldie, so credit to him for that. It was hell of a strike.’
As if to rub salt in the GFC wounds, in last night’s other Isthmian South Central game, Metropolitan Police pulled off a major shock by winning 2-1 away at second-placed Southall to jump to 14th.
