With last weekend’s storms having given GFC an unexpected break due to the postponement of their trip to runaway Southern Combination Premier Division leaders Haywards Heath Town, they now face three important home matches on the trot, starting with today’s visit of the side with a near-identical record to their own in Bexhill United, as seventh faces eighth in the race for the play-offs.
‘October can be pretty scary, particularly the last day of the month, and then we have an important November and there could be fireworks,’ said GFC manager Tony Vance, getting into the spirit of the season as he assesses the upcoming home run which also includes clashes with Lancing and top-five outfit East Grinstead Town.
Vance admitted we will have to wait and see if his side having an unscheduled rest turns out to be a good thing when they return to action today.
‘We were supposed to be playing Haywards Heath and that game could have been a huge boost to us if we had got a result, but let’s be honest, they are the ones to beat and we would have been away from home so that game was never going to define our season,’ he said.
‘We have now got three home games where hopefully we can use that to our advantage, but that is not always the case in football.’
Bexhill United are one place below GFC and level on points with the Green Lions having played one game more.
Both sides have won seven and drawn two of their league fixtures, with today’s visitors having lost once more than their hosts, but they are coming off the back of a 3-2 midweek cup win over Worthing United.
‘It sets up nicely for a good game,’ Vance said.
‘The good thing is we are at home, but I remember when they came here last season they had a good game-plan and it was a really close game.’ he added, referring to his side’s narrow 3-2 success in March.
Jack Shonk was among the scorers for Bexhill United that day and he is joint leading scorer for the club with seven so far this campaign.
‘He is an ex-professional, he is a high-level player, he scores against a lot of sides and he was very clever the way he played against us last time, so we certainly need to respect him,’ Vance said.
GFC are still without Jamie Dodd, Charlton Gauvain and Josh Addison, but Vance is happy with the options he has at his disposal today.
‘We are almost at full-tilt now, which is great,’ he said.
‘Whereas we were trying to find 16 players a few weeks ago, we are now having to leave people out. That’s a good thing in its way, but it is also challenging because you have to get those calls right, otherwise you have players knocking on your door.’
Guernsey FC against Bexhill United kicks off at 1.30pm today at Victoria Park.
GFC Women are back in action tomorrow afternoon when they host Whitchurch United at Victoria Park, 2pm kick off.
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