New Guernsey goalkeeper Lucas Hanley wanted to join the Green Lions right from when he first trained with them over the summer, and now he has his chance.
The 17-year-old Kent-based stopper was signed from Isthmian South East side Herne Bay just before the weekend in time to make his debut in the win over Sutton Common Rovers on Sunday, coming to the rescue after the sudden departure of Callum Stanton back to Dubai.
He has watched Tony Vance’s side on the mainland several times over the years and is now playing alongside a player he looked up to in Ross Allen.
Hanley’s dad is from Guernsey so he has a local connection, and went along to training when visiting the island over the summer.
“From then, I wanted to join straight away,” Hanley told GFCTV after his debut. “I’m buzzing to have signed and I’ve had a brilliant welcome from the team.
“This is my first season in men’s football so it’s a really good opportunity to play every week. I just wanted to play as much as possible, put in good performances and get as many clean sheet as I can to help the team.”
Hanley is the 14th goalkeeper to represent the Sarnians, but only the fourth to keep a clean sheet on his debut – the others being Chris Tardif, Paul de Garis and Tom Creed.
He look assured in his first outing and gave confidence to the back four, and made some important saves to help the Green Lions to their first away win of the season, and first victory of 2022 as they leapfrogged their opponents into 16th in Isthmian South Central with a vital three points.
He passed his first test 20 minutes in, sliding out at the feet of Jephte Tanga to smother a shot. He was also in the right place at the right time to get in the way of a flicked-on header towards goal in the second half, and scrambled a longer distance effort around his post as the game neared its end.
“It wasn’t my best game but a clean sheet is a clean sheet at end of the day,” he said. “I made a couple of saves, I had a good game.”
Tony Vance told the Guernsey Press ahead of the weekend: “Herne Bay have been great and released him to allow him to play for us for the rest of the season.
“From my point of view, I’m hoping we can now move on with a keeper who is available week-in, week-out and I’m not going to have to spend Fridays trying to find one anymore.”
