The fourth-placed finishers recovered from a two-goal deficit at Newhaven to win 5-3 while the Green Lions scored three times in the last quarter-of-an hour to beat Lancing 3-0 and finish a point above Horsham YM to ensure home advantage when they go head-to-head once more.
However, the YM have reason to feel confident going into the big clash, having beaten GFC home and away this season.
‘Back in July I said we were aiming for the play-offs and we’ve done it,’ Horsham YM boss Liam Giles told the County Times.
‘As anticipated, Guernsey beat Lancing, so we’ve got the go back to the Channel Islands – although we’ve beaten them twice this season that won’t be easy, but we’ve just got to go there next Saturday and do it.’
GFC manager Tony Vance revealed that while his side’s style of play saw them finish as the league’s leading goal-scorers with 126 from their 38 games, with not a single draw to their name, the play-offs could bring about a change in tack.
‘Next week it’s going to be completely different, that’ll be a chess game,’ he said.
‘Maybe we won’t be so open, but yeah, we’ve scored an awful lot of goals, which has been good fun – and the noise when you score was amazing here.
‘We’ve got a “cup final” and see where it takes us. We’ve got to pick the best group we can, but Horsham are a tough team, and they’ve beaten us twice, so you could argue that they’re the favourites.’
Northerners will play Jersey Wanderers in the Upton Park Trophy on Saturday.
Wanderers were crowned Jersey Combination League champions at the weekend thanks to a 6-1 win over St Ouen’s. Although St Clement can still finish level on points at the top of the table, Wanderers have guaranteed first place on their head-to-head record having beaten their title rivals in two of their three league encounters.
The Upton will be at the Corbet Field on Saturday, 1pm kick off.
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