A total of 101 action-packed minutes had a crowd of 921 enthralled from start to finish as they were treated to some fantastic finishing, a red card, a sin-binning, a dubious penalty that was subsequently missed and even a goal that never was.
Crucially for the home fans, though, the 10-men of Guernsey FC held on to secure a memorable 3-2 win against a side who had only lost one league game previously this season – and that was to the same opponents.
GFC manager Tony Vance admitted afterwards that he had gone through ‘all emotions’ on the touchline.
‘Mental game, wasn’t it? Had everything, didn’t it?’ he said.
‘But the best stat or the best thing about the game is we got three points – we got the win and just about got over the line.’
The in-form Ross Allen had given the home side a 2-0 lead inside the opening half-hour with his first finish a delightful lob, and the second following up his own initial shot that had been blocked.
Visiting striker Alex Brewer believed he had got a goal back, but play was waved on with the officials believing his effort had struck the base of the post when, in fact, it appeared to rebound off the padding surrounding the wheel on the inside of the goal frame.
Brewer did halve the deficit before half-time, though, as he netted on 37min., but midway through the second half substitute George Goubert restored the two-goal cushion with a well-taken breakaway goal.
But the drama was only just beginning as GFC were reduced to 10 men when Josh Addison was sent off and Will Fazakerley took over as the stand-in goalkeeper.
He had to face a penalty late on, but Stanley Bridgman hit the top of the crossbar with his spot kick.
Steyning did get a second goal thanks to Marcus Allen in the 90th minute, which meant it was backs to the wall for GFC throughout 11 minutes of added time, but they somehow saw the game out.
‘It was longer than probably it should have been if I’m honest, particularly when they were causing a lot of the antics and not us. It’s not like we were wasting time,’ Vance said.
‘The ref had to deal with a lot of pressure, he’s been pushed, and I thought he did quite well under the circumstances.
‘I thought their penalty was soft, but in fairness, I think they scored a legitimate goal first half. We’ve had one of them when they’ve hit the wheel. I think that probably was a goal, so they’ll be a bit aggrieved.
‘But saying that, I think it was two good teams having a right good go at each other and a good game of football.’
The win keeps Guernsey third in the SCFL Premier, now eight points behind Steyning with two games in hand.
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