Despite suffering a 4-3 defeat on the road at Wick on Saturday when the Green Lions fielded a depleted squad due to the fixture clash with the Muratti Vase semi-final in Alderney, the fact that Horsham YM also lost at the weekend, 3-2 in the battle of fourth against fifth away to Peacehaven & Telscombe, means that Tony Vance’s men need just three points from their remaining three fixtures to cement third place.
Their first chance to pick up those points comes today, in the rearranged trip to Midhurst & Easebourne where GFC were 4-1 ahead last month only for the game to be abandoned after 70 minutes due to an injury to a home player.
‘We already negotiated that once, to no avail, so we’re going to have to go and do it again,’ manager Vance told the club’s social media after their defeat on Saturday.
‘That home play-off is so important to us because you don’t know what you’re going to turn up at, what sort of pitch, what sort of facilities, and that can dictate the game so much.
‘In all fairness, we’ve been really good at home, away is so much more difficult – when you have to play a different game is where we are coming unstuck.’
GFC encountered tough conditions at Wick, where the strong wind and the playing surface were not conducive to attractive football and that left Vance joking wryly that his side’s performance was one that he will confine to the bin.
The Green Lions had led 2-1 at half-time thanks to two goals from Matt Loaring either side of Callum Beck’s strike for the hosts.
But GFC made a nightmare start to the second half, conceding twice inside the first few minutes with Cavan Gratwick netting the equaliser before Ethan Roberts put the Dragons ahead for the first time.
Roberts added the fourth in a goalmouth scramble 10 minutes from time before Alfie Torode, one of three 16-year-old debutants to come off the bench, got a late consolation for GFC.
Fellow teenager Dylan Graham created the opportunity, pinching the ball on the halfway line before threading a nice pass down the line to find Ross Allen, who stood a cross up to the far post where Torode nodded in.
‘It was one of those days, difficult conditions, difficult pitch, made some mistakes – it was a pitch to make mistakes on, but I think the mistakes we actually made were ones we should be better at,’ Vance said.
‘They punished us. We had a made spell just after half-time where we just kind of caved in and gave ourselves a mountain to climb.
‘We should have been better in the first half, but ultimately we gave away poor goals and ultimately weren’t good enough.
‘They huffed and puffed and they deserved their victory.’
The GFC manager did, though, have words of praise for Torode, Graham and fellow newcomer Riley Tyrrell.
‘As a game and as a contest, the only positive really for me was getting the opportunity to see the three young lads do so well.
‘We were struggling for resources, that’s the best thing about the Alderney weekend where you can open the door a little bit for the youngsters, they’re ready now, their 16 and playing men’s football, so I was delighted to see them involved. You want to get them on the pitch.
‘I said to them in front of everybody, “this is the reality, it’s not all the pretty stuff at Victoria Park in front of 1,000-plus people playing the beautiful game”, and they came on and actually improved us – I can’t be more complimentary than that.
‘Riley was lively in that middle area and did well for us in a difficult situation, Dylan out wide did so well, great assist for Alfie to score on his debut, so really good for those three.’
TEAMS
Wick: Belcher, Beck, Wollers, Bingham, Downie, Robinson, Singers, Bennetts, Roberts, Simmonds, Gratwick. Subs used: Clarke, Fallick, Gray, Spiteri.
Guernsey FC: Kelly, Dodds (Tyrrell), Vaudin, Hunter, Arnold, Vance (Torode), Loaring, Allen, Wallace, Patterson (Graham), Murray.
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