Guernsey are back on the winning trail but that will be severely tested as the Green Lions head to Peacehaven & Telscombe on Saturday afternoon.
Last weekend’s 3-0 defeat to a resurgent Eastbourne United aside, The Tye have overcome a patchy start to shoot up the Southern Combination Premier Division table thanks to an eight-game unbeaten streak. They are in fourth, four places and four points above GFC but have played two games more. They finished seventh last season.
The Greens’ romping Roffey rout was their first win in November and ended a three-game losing run. Because of playing less games, they can only move up one place in the table with a win, depending on how Pagham get on at Seaford Town. Saturday’s task is all about closing the gap to the teams above.
From last weekend’s squad, Jacques Cauvain and Brandon Wallace are unavailable – leaving Sam Murray as the only everpresent left his season – which means he will have to wait another week to reach a century of appearances for the club. Club captain Jamie Dodd is likely to come in to boost the numbers. Tom Vaudin, Simon Arnold and Niall Hainsworth are edging closer to a return but aren’t quite ready, while Matt Loaring remains a long-term absentee.
There could be a debut for midfielder Corey Brouard, who has been studying in the US and is currently back in the island. He has appeared for the GFC Development side.
GFC do have previous with Peacehaven. We faced them twice on their way up in 2013-14 (a 2-2 draw at home and a 2-0 defeat away) as they romped to the Isthmian League Division One South title) and again on the way down in 2015-16 (a 2-1 defeat away and a 6-1 win at home) as their budget was cut and they sunk straight back down to Step Five.
It will be a large group travelling as the Guernsey FA U18 side are taking on Peacehaven’s U18s, which kicks off at 11am.
Saturday’s match kicks off at 2pm. Fans not making the journey to Centenary Park in East Sussex can watch the first half live on our YouTube channel, or listen to live commentary of the full 90 minutes on our @GuernseyFC X Space.
