The Green Lions booked their place in the second qualifying round of the FA Vase on Saturday at Newhaven where they had to contend with sweltering heat as well as a second-half onslaught from the hosts to earn a 1-0 victory that has earned a home tie with Roffey on Saturday 12 September.
While the man who currently wears the captain’s armband, Charlton Gauvain, netted the decisive goal in the 10th minute, it was a club stalwart who has worn it so often in the past that came in for praise from manager Tony Vance as Jamie Dodd led a rearguard action late on to see GFC through.
‘I really wanted Doddie to play today because I wanted him to look after that back line and he did that really well. I thought he was outstanding,’ said Vance on the GFC social media channels.
‘He’s trained really well and he’s started really well, and I think he’s understanding his role. Today he came in, it was really important for me that we had him available, and he led the troops and I think he enjoyed it. He loves those sort of things.
‘But ultimately we need to get our rotations better this year, we weren’t good last year, so coming here with 16 people, a good bench, good changes out wide, and have people back home – you look at Simon Arnold for example, he started the first three games and he’s not even travelled. It’s great that we are able to do that.
‘It’s nothing he deserved, but we’ve got to get these rotations right because here we are, a hot day, it’s going to take a lot out of them, and we’ve got to travel again Tuesday night and we’ve got a game again Saturday away. So we’ve got to get those things right and get the results.’
Gauvain’s early goal, which came after he stayed on his feet despite getting impeded by the onrushing goalkeeper before slotting home from a tight angle, was the least GFC deserved for their first-half performance, though Vance admitted they need to be more clinical and it could have cost them dearly.
‘I said to them at half-time that that was really my only criticism of how we set out,’ he said.
‘I wanted us to start strongly after last week, they did that and we got in with some really good chances, good goal-scoring opportunities, probably three maybe four, and a lot of box entries where, to be honest, we weren’t ruthless enough.
‘We were trying to score the perfect goal and I didn’t want that to come and bite us, and it nearly did because in the second half, apart from the first 10 minutes where we again had some good chances, we were backs to the wall.
‘Fair play to Newhaven, they had a right good go.’
It is another quick turnaround for the Green Lions as they return to Southern Combination Premier Division action tonight when they travel to Haven Sportsfield to face Crawley Down Gatwick.
The hosts have won one, drawn one and lost one of their three league fixtures so far.
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