Goals: Canha 24’; Fazakerley 90+1’ – Schafer 8’.

Football – funny old game, eh?!

Following a run of four games with strong performances, including against the top two, and just three points to show for it, the Green Lions suddenly found themselves majorly off-colour at home to the league’s bottom side, but this time came out of it triumphant, just.

Herne Bay could consider themselves grossly unlucky to be heading back to Kent early Wednesday morning with nothing to show for their efforts as Guernsey chalked up their 150th league win.

Will Fazakerley will go down in the record books as the 91st-minute matchwinner and supersub, but those present at a bitingly cold Footes Lane will remember man-of-the-match Callum Stanton making four key stops in the closing stages to prevent the visitors taking the spoils.

The Rovers duo of Fazakerley and Carlos Canha ultimately made the difference, but Steve Sharman admitted afterwards that his side were ‘terrible at looking after the ball’.

There were plenty of chances created for both sides, though, with the game very open and stretched in nature – though that could be largely in part to the passing from both sides being sloppy enough to present counter-attacking opportunities.

But for the all the stats about possession and poor pass completion, the key statistic – and the only one we care about in the aftermath – is that Guernsey scored two compared to Herne Bay’s one. Winning ugly is an important characteristic in football.

A rare Tom De La Mare mistake perhaps set the tone for the game, his underhit and misplaced backpass for Stanton presenting Bradley Schafer with a simple low finish past Stanton from the edge the area after just seven minutes.

That perhaps put the Sarnians on edge, with passes not finding their target or players dallying on the ball too long and surrendering possession too easily.

Connor Wilkins cleared the bar by some distance on nine minutes with Guernsey’s first response being Dave Rihoy’s smart, rising effort that was on target but straight at Jordan Beeney, who held.

Stanton’s first vital stop came in the 19th minute as he spared the blushes of centre-back partnership Frank Tobin and Jamie Dodd, who misjudged in letting the ball bounce through to their keeper. Embery nipped in only to find Stanton in the way to grab hold of his attempted lob into an empty net.

Seb Skillen, marking his 50th appearance for the club, fizzed a low shot inches wide across goal, and teed up De La Mare with a one-two 20 yards out that saw Beeney dive on the fullback’s low shot as the hosts looked to get a grip on the game.

Further sloppy play in midfield presented Thomas Carlton with an opportunity but his low shot was straight at Stanton.

The Green Lions got the break they needed just after the midway point of the half. De La Mare slotted a pass into the right channel for Charlton Gauvain, whose early low centre presented a simple finish for Canha at the back post – relief around Footes Lane.

That relief was cranked up a notch just a minute later as Schafer was given too much time to bring the ball down, turn, and curl an exquisite effort that beat Stanton but smacked off the crossbar. The rebound fell back to Schafer, who showed good technique to volley it back towards goal but this time missed the target.

Two chances arrived for Gauvain in quick succession before the half-hour as he pounced on Skillen’s knockdown but dragged a low shot wide from distance, then picked up a short corner and fired in towards the near post only for Beeney to beat it behind.

Matt Loaring also came close as a high ball dropped to him in the box. He swivelled and caught it on the volley but Beeney was once again Guernsey’s nemesis as he made the save.

Stanton then made a routine stop from Carlton’s free-kick and Jamie Dodd threw himself in the way to make a painful block as the midfield got in another muddle and gave the ball away.

Danny Leonard was a whisker away from restoring Herne Bay’s lead as his rising drive flew inches over the top and Kyle Smith was teed up by Gauvain in stoppage-time, only to see his low shot deflected towards Beeney.

Some stern words must have been uttered at half-time as most of the second half belonged to the improved Green Lions, despite still being poor in possession on many occasions.

Within the first 10 minutes, Gauvain had been thwarted as he tried to catch Beeney off guard with a free-kick and Loaring exchanged passes with Canha before shooting from the edge of the area, only for a defender to make a block in the six-yard box.

A good move involving Dodd, Smith and De La Mare led to a cross by Loaring from the right that glanced off the forehead of Smith and wide of the far post.

An off-balance Leonard screwed wide for the visitors after Rihoy had squandered possession, while Thomas Dodds saw his distance effort cannon off the leg of a defender and behind following a counter-attack.

Sharman and Colin Fallaize then made a bold triple-substitution with 20 minutes to go in attempt to force the issue, sending on Fazakerley, Keanu Marsh and Glyn Dyer in place of Smith, De La Mare and Skillen. It would prove key with two of those replacements involved in the winner.

Two further promising opportunities then fell for Dave Rihoy, who was first found by Canha in the box but saw his low curler comfortably saved before his powerful rising shot was beaten away from the edge of the area after he had been released into the right channel.

Despite this domination, the performance was still disjointed and the crowd were growing frustrated. Perhaps Herne Bay sensed this as they played on their hosts’ nerves and turned proceedings back in their favour in the final 10 minutes.

Carlton was found on the counter and lifted a shot towards the corner that required a full-length dive and stretch from Stanton to tip it over the top. The same player was denied when Stanton scurried across to get his fingertips to a low shot from 18 yards.

Perhaps the stopper’s best save of the night came with five minutes to go as a high free-kick dropped to Embery in the box. The forward turned and belted the ball at goal from close-range but Stanton got behind it to make a vital block. GFC then went on the counter, but Dyer fired wide from the angle when he had better options in the middle.

Stanton was alert one more time to beat away a rising drive from Leonard, and Fazakerley was denied with just over a minute to go as he leapt to meet Canha’s cross from the left byline and his downward header was clawed away by Beeney.

It looked like the night was to end in frustration, but GFC had just one more chance in the first minute of added-on time.

Dyer seized on a loose ball on the left and found Loaring on the edge of the box. Loaring worked space for a low shot, which Beeney got down quickly to, but the keeper could only push it into the path of Fazakerley, who couldn’t miss from close range and found the net to send the Garenne Stand into raptures. It was the Green Lions 700th goal in league competition.

It had come late enough to secure the victory without any further incidents and even though they did not hit the same heights as recent performances, perhaps this result was a reward for perseverance and compensation for some recent unlucky defeats.

The victory meant the Green Lions initially jumped three places to 15th in Bostik South East, but as the teams who have already played Thamesmead Town this season have now had those results chalked off, the three points taken off Faversham’s total for their victory over the now defunct side mean we now move above them to 14th, although Faversham do have a game in hand.

Herne Bay: Jordan Beeney, Alex Mulrooney-Skinner, Jean Kinsaba-Musi, Ben Gorham ©, James White, Miles Cornwell, Bradley Schafer (Euan Sahadow 63’), Thomas Carlton, Jake Embery, Connor Wilkins, Danny Leonard. Not used: Thomas Barton, Jamie Chamberlain.

Booked: Gorham.