Goals: Ascheri (pen) 78′ – Dodds 73′; Difford (OG) 74′; Young 83′; Allen 89′.

Guernsey produced one of their best – or perhaps THE best – performances of the season to blow away Chatham Town with four-second half goals and take a big stride towards remaining in Ryman South.

Ross Allen will grab the headlines after a surprise early recall since returning from travelling. He came off the bench to create a goal with virtually his first touch within a minute, and netted late on to seal the three points. His was involved in all four Guernsey goals in some form.

But it was a fantastic team display, with youngsters Tom De La Mare and Keanu Marsh really standing out – particularly in the first half.

All the goals came in the final 20 minutes, but the chances the dominant Green Lions created in the first half should have seen them well out of sight.

After a shaky first five minutes – with Riley getting down to hold a tame effort from Ade Batula – GFC grew into the game and dominated the opening 45 with an excellent performance. They got to half-time wondering how they weren’t already two or three to the good with a string of good opportunities not taken.

They were putting together some neat passing moves. One such move between De La Mare and Glyn Dyer saw the latter cross from the left, but Craig Young misjudged the bouncing ball and skewed it wide. 

Two chances then came within a minute as a corner was headed up into the air on 12 minutes. Jacob Fallaize rose to nod it towards goal but Louis Lawlor plucked it out of the air. De La Mare then dragged a shot wide from the edge of the area before volleying a bouncing ball well over from Dom Heaume’s knockdown.

Midway through the half, Dave Rihoy played the ball through to Tom De La Mare, who could have had a shot himself but unselfishly squared the ball back to his team-mate right in front of goal. But Rihoy blazed over the fantastic opportunity – clearing the crossbar by some distance, with the bumpy surface perhaps having an effect on the strike.

Ryan-Zico Black also pulled a shot wide from distance and Riley held a flick-on at the other end.

Rihoy had three other low shots from the edge of the area gathered by Lawlor, and nearly turned provider on 33 minutes in a frantic moment that saw Guernsey spurn two glorious opportunities. Keanu Marsh ran on to Rihoy’s through ball and his low shot had beaten Lawlor, but the ball struck the foot of the post. The ball fell to Heaume six yards out in the resulting scramble and he fired at goal, but Lawlor made a vital block on the line.

Riley was almost highly embarrassed towards the end of the first half as he caught a ball into the box. He failed to check behind him before dropping the ball at his feet. Ricky Gundry was lurking behind him and tried to pinch the ball off him to roll into an empty net, but RIley and GFC breathed a huge sigh of relief when the referee judged Gundry to have fouled the stopper.

Justin Ascheri cleared the crossbar by a long way from distance and Lawlor held De La Mare’s bouncing shot from 25 yards before the half was out.

There is always a worry that if you don’t take your chances, it comes back to haunt you later – and that has happened to Guernsey several times this season. But this time they simply built on their positive first half and continued to control the game.

Their first chance of the half came five minutes in when Jacob Fallaize stabbed home Ryan-Zico Black’s free-kick from deep at the far post, but the offside flag was raised and the goal chalked out.

In the same incident, Tom De La Mare was knocked to the floor and looked in some pain. He had to be replaced by Thomas Dodds, going off with what looked like a painful shoulder injury. We wish him all the best for a quick recovery and hope there is no serious damage.

It was a big loss as De La Mare was having a superb game, but Dodds was to have a big impact himself.

Dyer could only hit the wall with two free-kicks, and Young had a great chance just after the hour as he volleyed at goal from the middle of the area but Lawlor made a strong low block.

Paris Pereira came on for Dyer and came close with his first touch, but his header was held by Lawlor. Allen was introduced with just under 20 minutes to go for his long awaited return – and what an impact he had.

He had been on the field only a minute or so when he picked the ball up on the right wing. It looked as though he had gone for the cross, but the ball took a huge deflection off Thomas Dodds and looped over Lawlor into the far corner. An element of luck certainly, but it was no less than Guernsey deserved.

The lead was doubled within a minute in a crazy spell. Allen and Dodds were involved again as the former executed a deft backheel and played in the latter. Defender John Difford stuck out a leg to block the youngster’s low centre but instead diverted the ball into the net for an own goal.

Despite Tony Vance’s side now looking home and dry, suddenly the game was set up for a potentially nervy finish when the referee blew up for a handball in the Guernsey box, with Ascheri’s penalty low into the net on 78 minutes halving the deficit. A heart-in-mouth moment was to follow as Difford had a great chance to level when the ball was pulled back to him, but he hit the foot of the post.

But the Green Lions eased any potential worries on that front as they were two clear again within five minutes. Allen slipped the ball through to Heaume, who pulled the ball back from the right byline. Allen couldn’t make contact at the near post it but Young was on hand at the far post to roll the ball home from close range.

As if the game wasn’t over already, Allen capped his return with a fine solo goal to make it four in the last minute. He had already driven a low shot wide just after the Chatham goal, but this time he picked up the ball on the left hand side all on his own – with only defenders for company. But he was undeterred as he drove inside, fooled his man by cutting back onto his right foot and placed the ball low into the far corner.

Young had one further shot from distance that was saved, but that was the last action of a thoroughly entertaining afternoon that put us 11 points clear of the relegation zone (also thanks to Three Bridges’ defeat at Chipstead) with the Chats having just six matches left to close the gap.

The other Ryman South results were as follows: Carshalton Athletic 4-1 Herne Bay, Corinthian-Casuals 4-0 Sittingbourne, Dorking Wanderers 1-0 Walton Casuals, Faversham Town 3-0 East Grinstead Town, Greenwich Borough 1-0 Lewes, Hastings United 5-1 Molesey, Horsham 2-0 Tooting & Mitcham United, Ramsgate 1-0 Godalming Town, South Park 0-1 Hythe Town, Three Bridges 1-3 Chipstead, Whyteleafe 0-1 Cray Wanderers.

Chatham Town: Louis Lawler, Cameron Heffernan, Freeman Rogers, Austin Edwards, Jon Difford, George Benner, Leonardo Mazzone (Alex Gardikiotis 49′), Ricky Gundry, Ade Batula (Josh Bray 70′), Justin Ascheri, Jordan Gallaher (Alex Gardikiotis 57′). Not used: Tom Webb, Alfie Foster.

Booked: Edwards, Bray.