Despite the distinctly chilly weather, the Guernsey FC manager got very hot under the collar during the first half for a challenge on Ross Allen just outside of the AFC Varndeanians box that led to a free-kick for the Green Lions during their 2-1 at Victoria Park.
The home manager could heard reminding the officials the number of the visiting offender, Aaron Lunguma, but when his name was not taken by Daniel Killick, Vance talked his way into the referee’s notebook instead.
‘Well, they were whingeing a bit so I thought I’d have a whinge. Unfortunately, he picked on me,’ said Vance afterwards, breaking into a smile.
‘The last time I nearly got a yellow card and should have done, they thought it was Kevin [Gilligan] and he got the yellow card instead, so I’m probably due one.
‘Obviously we all thought it was probably a yellow card [for the foul], but maybe I’ll keep quiet next time... or probably not.’
Vance then revealed that he genuinely congratulated the referee on his performance after the game, with Killick not falling for some of the typical antics prevalent in football these days.
More importantly, thanks to their victory as well as results elsewhere along with some postponements due to frozen pitches in England, Guernsey FC are up to third in the Southern Combination Premier Division, albeit 14 points behind second-placed Steyning Town with three games in hand on them. Runaway leaders Haywards Heath Town are a further five points clear.
Vance admitted that his side had missed chances to kill off their game against AFC Varndeanians, meaning that it was a very nervy last five minutes or so.
‘They’re a good side, actually. It’s two good games we’ve had against them and I’ve enjoyed playing them because they try and play.
‘In saying that, if you look at it, we’ve hit the bar a couple of times, their keeper’s made a good couple of saves and with the crossing quality we had, we probably deserved to score more goals.
‘They really had probably one half chance and that was it, so in terms of box entries, I think we were superior to them.
‘But it was 2-1 and always squeaky bum time. Obviously they shoved a load of players up front at the end and we’ve all seen it happen before [a late goal], so it’s good to get over the line.’
He added, though, that there were some ‘good performances out there’ from his players, and he name-checked some of the less-experienced Green Lions.
‘I thought Gil [Hunter] was excellent again – that’s a proper game for him to play in,’ Vance said of the young defender.
‘Then George [Goubert] coming on, I’ve said I haven’t got any nervousness bringing him on, he can carry the ball so well, and we always replace players in wide areas because they’re the ones that do the high impact game for us, so while the starters both did fine, absolutely fine – Fin Patterson I thought was really good – it’s great to have those wide players to change things as well because it’s a big focus of our game.’
GFC are back at home this Saturday when they host Eastbourne Town, 2.30pm kick off.
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