Guernsey head to Southern Combination Premier Division table proppers Lancing on Saturday looking to bounce back from last weekend’s home defeat to Pagham – but the task isn’t as easy as it looks on paper.
A few more players have been added to the injury list and a few players have been unwell during the week, which makes Tony Vance’s squad selection a little more challenging.
Lancing also confirmed a new management team on Monday who may well have brought in a host of new players, meaning we could be facing a very different side to the one that has struggled so far this season. Previous manager Dean Cox resigned three weeks ago.
Tom Vaudin has joined Matt Loaring, Jacques Cauvin and Simon Arnold on the sidelines, while Seb Vance and Josh Addison are still a couple of weeks away from full fitness.
Fin du Port is in line to make his 50th appearance for the club, while Charlton Gauvain should surpass Tom De La Mare’s 191 appearances for the club, leaving just Simon Geall (197) in his sights to get into the top 10. Jacob Fallaize could move ahead of Marc McGrath onto 145.
It’s still tight among the chasing pack, so the Sarnians could end the weekend anywhere between third and ninth.
Lancing’s only win of the season so far came against fellow strugglers Lingfield, who have beaten the Green Lions themselves this season. Like GFC, the Lancers were relegated from the Isthmian League last season, finishing bottom of the South East Division.
Although this is our first meeting with Lancing, we have visited Culver Road twice before. Once away to Horsham who were groundsharing at the time, but most notably in October 2013 as we “hosted” Dover Athletic in the second qualifying round of the FA Cup, with the visitors unable to agree logistics to visit the island for the tie.
Saturday’s match kicks off at 2pm. Fans not travelling to Culver Road can listen to full live commentary on our @GuernseyFC X Space or keep up to date with our social media posts.
Anna Gauvain has a similar challenge for her Green Lionesses side as she waits to see who is in top shape after a bit of illness in the camp.
The challenge comes as the women’s side face their biggest test yet as AFC Stoneham head to Victoria Park on Sunday afternoon. They have won all three league games so far, including putting 14 past Nursing & Shirley. They finished third in the Southern Region Women’s Division One South last season with 11 wins from 16 games.
Again, the table is tight and so Guernsey could be anywhere between first and seventh by the end of the day.
The two senior goalkeepers, Emma Queripel and Kayleigh Marquis, are both still injured so we can expect a home debut for Alana Hockey, who kept a clean sheet in her first game last weekend as Guernsey took three points from their trip to Shaftesbury. Rochelle Mullen could also come back into the squad.
Sunday’s match kicks off at 2pm. Fans unable to make it to Victoria Park can listen to full live commentary on our Facebook page or @GuernseyFC X Space, or keep up to date with our social media posts.
A full match report will follow both games.