GUERNSEY 0
WALTON & HERSHAM 0
Guernsey defied the odds against title hopefuls Walton & Hersham in a resolute defensive display that leaves them one win away from Isthmian South Central survival.
The Green Lions rarely entered Swans territory, but Tony Vance and his side – with several key players rested ahead of an important trip to South Park on Easter Monday – kept their discipline to grind out this important point against the side who had put six past them in the winter.
Merstham and Bedfont Sports playing out a 2-2 draw later in the afternoon ensured Guernsey will definitely avoid the bottom two and automatic relegation, and the Sarnians’ safety from the relegation play-off places will be confirmed if they beat South Park or Mertsham and Sutton Common Rovers both lose. A draw for all three would also be good enough for GFC.
In front of their biggest crowd of the season, Guernsey’s uphill task was suffered a setback within five minutes as Keanu Marsh was forced off with a hamstring injury, awful timing for him with the Muratti just over a month away and the Island Games also on the horizon.
The host survived handful of early headers going off target, the first from Joe Pratley-Jones and the others from the division’s top scorer, Eddie Simon.
Skipper Jamie Dodd also cleared off the line to keep out Mitchal Gough’s curler and Simon was denied an opener by the offside flag. Alex Kelly’s header also missed the target.
Jason Martin tipped over a free-kick from Harry Mills, Tom Vaudin threw himself in the way of a shot and Teo Kurtaran cleared the crossbar in the rest of the half’s action but the defensive efforts of the Sarnians drew a show of appreciation from the Garenne Stand as the half-time whistle went.
Pratley-Jones lifted comfortably over after cutting in from the left soon after the break, while a rare foray into the visitors’ territory saw Danny Hale do well to beat two men on the left byline and nearly picked out Keene Domaille in the six-yard box.
Simon made his run a little early as John Gilbert slipped a pass into the area and so the offside flag was already up by the time the prolific striker had tucked the ball past Martin for the second time.
Gough came close with a looping header at the far post as he met a corner, and Guernsey’s only real chance of the game came just after the hour as Hale’s free-kick struck the crossbar.
Despite all the pressure, Martin had very few saves to make, one coming midway through the second half to tip over Pratley-Jones’ smartly hit volley.
In a proud moment for himself and no doubt his dad, Seb Vance replaced Kieran Mahon for his debut as the game ticked into the final 10 minutes.
Another wild effort from Kurtaran, another close-range block from Vaudin and a Martin save from Gough’s header. The Guernsey stopper also pushed to keep out a curling shot that was bouncing towards the bottom corner.
Joe Alvarez was in the right place at the right time to stop Kurtaran’s corner dropping in at the far post, and there were a few nervy moments of the ball bouncing around the Guernsey area in the closing stages. The final whistle was greeted by a huge roar from the Garenne Stand, who understood the significance of this result and appreciated the never-give-in attitude of the Green Lions.
The weekend’s other results were as follows: Ashford Town 0-5 Westfield, Basingstoke Town 1-0 Southall, Chertsey Town 2-1 Tooting & Mitcham United, Chipstead 3-1 Thatcham Town, Leatherhead 1-0 Hanworth Villa, Marlow 1-3 South Park, Merstham 2-2 Bedfont Sports, Uxbridge 4-3 Binfield.
Guernsey: 1 Jason Martin; 2 Keanu Marsh (12 Dave Merris, 4’); 3 Jamie Dodd (c); 4 Tom Vaudin; 5 Tom Dodds; 6 Kieran Mahon (15 Seb Vance, 80’); 7 Matt Loaring; 8 Liam Mahon; 9 Keene Domaille (14 Sam Murray, 86’); 10 Danny Hale; 11 Joe Alvarez. Not used: 13 Josh Addison; 16 Jacques Cauvain.
Walton & Hersham: 1 Liam Allen; 2 Harry Mills; 4 Arsen Ujkaj (12 Tauran Roberts, 69’); 5 Mitchal Gough; 6 Joe Hicks; 7 Teo Kurtaran; 8 Alex Kelly; 9 Eddie Simon; 10 John Gilbert; 11 Jordan Adeyemi (16 Oliver Twum, 88’); 17 Joe Pratley-Jones. Not used: 3 Darryl Siaw; 14 Dominic Ogun-Forster; 15 Jacob Munting.
Attendance: 862.
Highlights are available now on GFCTV.