Goals: De La Mare 25’ – Nwachukwu 12’, 85’; Boswell 61’.

Guernsey produced a performance that boss Tony Vance said was as bad as he had seen from his side in a long time as they were deservedly beaten by Horsham on Boxing Day.

It was festive football to forget, with the awful weather and conditions just adding to the misery of GFC’s meagre display.

For all the noise from visiting manager Dominic Di Paola about the difficulties of traveling to Guernsey on Boxing Day and how he didn’t know how he was going to get a side together, 10 of the players in the Hornets’ starting 11 played a part in their previous fixture.

But that does not excuse a poor outing from the Green Lions, who simply did not turn up.

Tom De Le Mare’s crisp strike to level midway through the first half was the only bright note of a miserable afternoon that saw goalkeeper Will Dennis limping around injured for much of the second half, which almost certainly contributed to the result-clinching third goal for the Sussex side – in fact, had it not been for several good stops from the Bournemouth loanee the score would have been worse.

Jamie Dodd’s free-kick that he sent well over in the fourth minute was unfortunately not a sign of things to come as Horsham quickly got on top.

Darren Boswell’s distance volley that rolled wide of Dennis’ right-hand post was an early tester, before Liam MacDevitt – the former GB sprinter’s pace caused GFC’s backline all sorts of bother in the 53 minutes he was on the pitch – took advantage of a slip from Simon Geall to run through on goal. But his end product was poor as he shot tamely straight at Dennis, who made the block.

Vance’s side were struggling to string simple passes together and gifted possession back to their opponents time and again. That was a sign of things to come as Horsham took the lead in the 12th minute.

A right-wing corner was picked up by Boswell on the far side, who delivered a pinpoint cross to the far post. Tony Nwachukwu crept away from his marker to stab the ball in at the far post inside the six yard box, with the Guernsey defence adamant the forward was offside when the ball was played back in. But the flag stayed down and it was 1-0.

MacDevitt hit the outside of the post from the angle after Boswell had put him through before Charlton Gauvain went from an audacious lob from virtually halfway that was drifting wide before Brannon Daly gathered.

The midway point of the half was all action and Nwachukwu belted a half-volley at goal that required Dennis to beat it behind. The stopper then had to get an arm down to stop MacDevitt’s acute shot rolling in after the forward had given Geall the slip.

The Sarnians were not playing well at all but undeservedly found themselves level on 25 minutes. Seb Skillen opted to pull a corner back to De La Mare a few yards outside the area. De La Mare worked the ball onto his left foot and hit a lovely shot through a crowd of bodies in the corner, just out of reach of Daly’s dive.

Three minutes later, Alex Le Prevost launched a surprise shot from near his own centre-circle. It was sweetly struck but straight down the throat of Daly who held. With a strong wind on their side in the first half, that sort of thing Guernsey did not do enough of in the first half, as even if the shots were saved it would have least presented possibilities of rebounds.

It looked like the equaliser might spark improvement in the Green Lions, but such a turnaround was not forthcoming.

They gifted Horsham the chance to go back in front when Dodd’s unnecessary and poorly-timed sliding tackle brought down Nwachukwu in the area. The number seven opted to take the spot-kick himself but dragged it wide of the post to give the hosts a reprieve.

Half-time was the ideal opportunity to shake things up but there were only glimpses of improvement from Guernsey at the start of the second half. Five minutes in, good work from Charlton Gauvain and substitute Thomas Dodds enabled Craig Young to scoop a ball over the top for Rihoy. His shot from the angle was on target but parried behind by Daly.

The visitors soon started to get back on top, though, with Curtis Gayler’s wild effort sailing way over the top after Nwachukwu’s initial shot had been blocked.

Dennis produced his best save of the match just after the hour as Scott Kirkwood looked to scoop the ball back into the area but the gale sent it sailing towards goal. Dennis reacted brilliantly, diving left and stretching every sinew to make a fingertip save and diver the ball behind.

But that great piece of work was all undone from the resulting corner as the ball was pulled back to Boswell, who lashed the ball in from the right side of the area. The wind may have helped as the ball simply rocketed into the top corner, leaving Dennis with absolutely no chance.

Unfortunately there was no positive response from Guernsey and, if anything, Horsham kept taking the game to the host. Dennis made another strong block on 72 minutes, beating away from Dean Bown with Geall making a timely tackle to prevent a rebound.

Guernsey did briefly threaten an equaliser as Loaring’s effort from the corner of the area was deflected wide by the fingertips of Daly and De La Mare fired over from Paris Pereira’s pullback as the game entered its final 10 minutes.

Dennis had picked up an injury midway through the second half and was really struggling to move freely or kick properly, but still managed to make a block with his legs to keep out Gayler’s free-kick.

Horsham piled on the misery with five minutes to go as they made the game safe. The wind once again played a part as it gave extra zing to a hopeful hook forward. Normally it would have been bread and butter for Dennis to come out and sweep up but his injury hampered him coming out, allowing Nwachukwu to run onto it and tuck the ball into the far corner.

The returning Dom Heaume headed down for Pereira to tee up Rihoy in stoppage time, but forward dragged wide and GFC’s late efforts to get back into the game were in vein. They could have no complaints about the results.

GFC remain 20th in Bostik South with the other Boxing Day results as follows: Ashford United 3-1 Sittingbourne, Carshalton Athletic 0-0 Corinthian Casuals, Cray Wanderers 7-0 Shoreham, Herne Bay 3-1 Faversham Town, Lewes 2-0 Hastings United, Phoenix Sports 0-2 Greenwich Borough, Ramsgate 2-2 Hythe Town, Walton Casuals 2-1 Molesey, Whyteleafe 2-1 Chipstead. 

Horsham: Brannon Daly, Lewis Broughton, Scott Harris, Jack Hartley, Liam MacDevitt (Toby House 53’), Curtis Gayler, Tony Nwachukwu (Kieran Bonner 90+1’), Scott Kirkwood (c), Joshua Street, Dean Bown, Darren Boswell (Ben Whiteley 81’). Not used: Cody Gibbs.