That was the message from Guernsey FC manager Tony Vance to his players after they suffered their worst Step 5 defeat at the hands of runaway Southern Combination Premier Division leaders Haywards Heath Town on Saturday when the hosts extended the winning start to their league campaign to 14 games, having raced into a four-goal lead by half-time.
GFC improved after the interval, but the damage had been done and the Green Lions went down 6-1.
‘We’ve had a discussion after the game about what needs to happen now and they have to understand that. We are going into a period now where we have to practise what we preach in training, we’ve got to be on it from the first whistle, we’ve got to have a 90-minute performance, we can’t have 45,’ said Vance to GFC’s media team after their second successive defeat.
‘Last week against Horsham, first half [was] poor, second half better. Again, same today and it can’t take a half-time team talk to do that.
‘If we can become a 90-minute team against the strong sides then we’ve cracked it.
‘We’ve got to be up for it, we’ve got to have that mentality and it’s got to come from within.’
Tom Chalaye gave Haywards Heath the lead inside nine minutes on his way to a first-half hat-trick and Matt Astle also scored before the break.
Although GFC were better after the turnaround, they conceded a couple more through Flynn Bolton and Henry Watson before Fin Patterson netted a late consolation with his first goal of the season.
‘Funnily enough, first five minutes we started off and I thought we could have the edge on them. But that was after five minutes and then things changed and we had a terrible 40 minutes,’ said Vance.
‘Their movement was pretty good to be fair, too good for us in our current situation, and we didn’t do what we were supposed to do. We did a bit of sort of half-and-half, and they picked us off.
‘In saying that, I don’t think they earned a goal today really. They will say differently, of course, but our contribution to their goals was significant and [we were] really lacklustre all over the pitch – that’s really frustrating because when you’re in the big games against the big teams you can’t afford to do that.’
Against in-form opposition, GFC’s cause was not helped by the absence of several regulars, especially in defence where they were without Ben Solway, Tom Vaudin, Jacques Cauvin and Niall Hainsworth.
‘We were defensively very short today, we could have done with some more resources there, it’s not ideal coming to a game like this with 13 players, but that’s it and we’re used to it,’ Vance said.
‘At half-time we discussed what needed to happen and the players carried it out and showed if we do that we can be a lot better than what we’d shown in the first half.
‘It was more of a game second half, we still gifted them two goals which is disappointing, but we were a lot more front foot, a lot more aggressive, and that’s what you’ve got to be otherwise you’re going to get picked off.’
GFC have slipped to eighth in the table, but are within three points of the top five.
Focus now switches to the FA Vase with the Green Lions away to Snodland Town on Saturday.
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