Guernsey FC’s seven-game winning streak to start the year came to an abrupt end at Horsham YM where the hosts won 4-0 to climb within a point of their third-placed opponents in the table and GFC manager Tony Vance made no attempt to sugar-coat the result.
‘It’s fair to say I’ve had better weekends – it was a poor game and a terrible trip,’ said Vance, whose side did not get home until late Sunday evening due to fog having had a couple of aborted landings attempts on both Saturday and the following day.
When asked if Horsham had been four goals better than his Green Lions, Vance’s reply was, ‘no, we were four goals worse than them’.
‘We contributed to at least three of the four goals, arguably four of them. For the first 10-15 minutes we were very strong, but apart from that we were terrible, we could not get going and they deserved to win, as simple as that, although not by four goals but they were gifts.
‘It was more of a step-four challenge in terms of the side we were playing and it was a step-four performance of old from us in terms of we were too fearful, we were not on the front foot and there was no quality.’
During their promising start, GFC had a decent chance to take the lead but Tom Vaudin was unable to convert, and Horsham went ahead just after the half-hour when striker Richard Pingling scored from Noel Fisher’s assist.
It remained 1-0 until the 69th minute when Fisher doubled the advantage with an emphatic strike.
Pingling got his second a few minutes later and on 79min. Jesse Sentamu completed the scoring as he followed up a James McElligott shot that had been saved by Josh Addison.
‘There are moments in a game that you look back on and at the start of the second half, when we were 1-0 down, Charlton [Gauvain] should have scored but he fell over at the wrong time on a boggy pitch. That was probably our moment,’ said Vance, who praised Vaudin as one outstanding performer on an otherwise disappointing day.
‘We did not deserve anything out of the game and it was a frustrating day, but I hope it will not do us any harm.
‘I am always realistic and if you lose, you lose for a reason, but it is only one game and the good thing is we are still ahead of Horsham and our destiny is still in our own hands in terms of what we are trying to achieve this season.’
Guernsey return home to face second-placed Haywards Heath on Saturday.
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