GFC must be wary as they head to high-flying Marlow
GUERNSEY FC are back on the road this evening as Tony Vance’s men make the trip to the mainland to play the high-flying Marlow.
The Green Lions have been victorious in three of their last five fixtures, but they were beaten away from home by Met Police in their most recent league outing.
Marlow, who edged out GFC 1-0 at Footes Lane earlier in the season, currently sit second in the Isthmian South Central Division table, and have won eight of their nine most recent games.
The Green Lions picked up a point on their last trip to the Alfred Davis Memorial Ground, though, and went close to claiming all three with the home team needing an 85th minute equaliser to deny them the victory back in November 2022.
‘It is going to go one of two ways, I think,’ said GFC boss Vance.
‘We should have beaten them there last year, however the year before that we had a very bad time and were on the end of a hiding.
‘It’s imperative we do not fall into that situation again, but they are not a great team to play against.
‘They manipulate every situation they can – I believe they call it “gamecraft” but I think I would call it something else.
‘For us it is all about character building, and the positive for us is that we have already had a game like that away at Chertsey, who are a similar side to Marlow.
‘We went to Chertsey with a very small group and we endured it, so the lads should be ready for this challenge.
‘We have players in this squad who can win us the game.’
The GFC manager also reported that there were only ‘12 or 13’ players available to travel.
‘It is something we’re used to doing [travelling with a small group] and the players we have available are very strong,’ said Vance.
‘When you have that few you need to understand your limits.
‘The players cannot afford to be flying into every tackle and overdoing it because there’s nobody to replace them, so we have to be careful.
‘We have a youthful group who are prepared to run – they have no fear.’
A win for Guernsey FC this evening could see them rise to 16th in the league table depending on Northwood’s result away at Ashford, and the Green Lions would go just a point behind Met Police in 15th.
