GFC weather Midhurst pressure to remain unbeaten

Guernsey maintained their unbeaten start to the season through ‘a point gained’ according to manager Tony Vance, when they shared the spoils with Midhurst and Easebourne in a match in which both teams enjoyed a lead.

Simon De La Rue

Published Today, 7:57am

Ben Solway (left) and Ross Allen celebrate the former’s goal which secured a point for GFC against Midhurst and Easebourne on a blustery Saturday at Victoria Park. / Picture by Andrew Le Poidevin

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Captain Charlton Gauvain’s adventurous lob from the centre circle had broken the deadlock in the first half, only for the visitors to score two goals in barely a minute in the second. Ben Solway’s 78th-minute equaliser completed the 2-2 scoreline and was the only goal scored against the fierce wind that howled across Victoria Park and made flowing football a seemingly forlorn hope.

‘We had to deal with a lot of pressure,’ said Vance, ‘and we dealt with it fairly well. They’re a good side that have invested heavily in players and you can see the results they’ve been getting – a very different side to last year.’

One of the players to have entered the visitors’ ranks since Guernsey’s 4-1 thrashing of the same opposition 12 months ago is Jersey’s ex-professional Brett Pitman, who scored his side’s equaliser and showed the confidence of his experience with several other long-range attempts.

Captain Charlton Gauvain’s adventurous lob from the centre circle had broken the deadlock in the first half. / Picture by Andrew Le Poidevin

‘He’s had an amazing career, scored a lot of goals and had a lot of appearances at a very high level, and you can see he’s still got it,’ said Vance, ‘so it was really pleasing to see Solly and Archie [Drillot] do so well against him in front of Seb Sheppard – he’s a solid goalkeeper and we’re lucky to have him as well as Josh Addison.’

Sheppard described the conditions as ‘horrible’ but told the club’s social media channel that he was looking forward to making a few appearances during the regular keeper’s injury-enforced absence, which is expected to be a few weeks.

Callum Le Lacheur went off with an injury to his right knee during the second half but, while Vance said he hoped it would not lead to a long-term absence, he highlighted the large number of players vying for places in the squad, and concluded that ‘we’ve got to use our group’.

The Green Lions have begun their Southern Combination Premier League season with three wins and two draws, putting them in third place, two points behind leaders Eastbourne United. The south coast club have played a game more and will be the next visitors to Victoria Park on Saturday.