Wonderful memories of a magical cup run will be rekindled on Saturday as Guernsey head back into the FA Vase, visiting Bexhill United.
We’ll be visiting a former scene of cup success too, with the game taking place at the Pilot Field, where a last-gasp Ross Allen penalty completed a hat-trick that saw the Green Lions progress past Hastings United in their debut FA Cup season in September 2013.
GFC’s one and only previous participation in the Vase was in 2012-13 and caused havoc with our fixture schedule (coupled with a waterlogged Footes Lane pitch for months) but saw us take part in some epic clashes. You may remember us coming back from 3-0 down in the last 10 minutes to beat Erith Town 4-3 after extra time, or our AET 6-5 humdinger in the mud at Rye United, most of all more than 4,000 people packing into Footes Lane to watch us take on eventual winners Spennymoor Town in the semi-final first leg after a huge community effort to get the game on, which included the use to a helicopter to clear surface water.
Bexhill are another new opponent, and one who we will face twice more in the league this season. They have four points from their opening three league games, but did progress one stage further than GFC in the FA Cup, being knocked out by Raynes Park Vale in the preliminary qualifying round last Saturday.
The tie will be settled on the day. In the event of a draw after 90 minutes, the match will go straight to penalties, with no extra time.
The prize for the winner is a home tie with Croydon (another former opponent from our Combined Counties days) on 20th September.
Saturday’s match kicks off at 2pm. Fans not making the journey to the Pilot Field in Hastings can watch the first half live on our YouTube channel (we will post the link before kick-off) but due to broadcasting rules the second half will be audio only, which you will also be able to listen to on our @GuernseyFC X Space. A full match report will follow on the website.
