GUERNSEY                3 (Loaring 26'; Allen 86'; Gauvain 87')
THATCHAM TOWN    1 (Clark 80')

Guernsey started the year at home the way they finished the last with two late goals to see off in-form Thatcham Town at a bright and chilly Footes Lane on Saturday.

Yet again pegged back in the closing stages, Ross Allen netted what proved to be the winner with the clincher from Gauvain coming only around a minute later – Sutton Common Rovers all over again.

It was a contest full of action with the game finishing 10-a-side after a double-yellow dismissal for each team, with a slightly under-resourced Green Lions good value for their win against a side who had lost just one of their last 11 games. Allen looks back to his best and Gauvain has started adding goals to his game again over the last two games.

With Tom Vaudin ruled out through illness and Tom Dodds serving a harsh suspension, Ben Solway stepped in at centre-back for his home debut, only his second start from the club, and was excellent alongside captain Jamie Dodd.

Tony Vance’s side started brightly and were playing some neat football without the killer instinct, often opting to pass when a shot was on. They had a scare on the quarter hour when Jordi Ebanda drifted off his man to meet Kyle Daniel-Spray’s cross but volleyed wide as he took aim for the far post.

GFC’s build up play finally got the reward it warranted with the opening goal on 26 minutes. A classic Allen twist and turn near the right wing foxed his man to work space for a cross – whipping the kind of delivery into the “corridor of uncertainty” that goalkeepers and defenders hate. Matt Loaring met it in the six-yard box and his header diverted the ball past Callum Smart. It was a landmark goal for Loaring as it took him past Dom Heaume onto 93 goals, and second in the all-time list – a worthy achievement given the unlikelihood of anyone getting close to Ross Allen as long as Guernsey FC exists.

Thatcham had a couple of range finders as Daniel-Spray sent a free-kick comfortably wide and Callum Willmouth volleyed well off target from outside the area. Josh Addison’s first meaningful save didn’t come until the 40^th minute when he got down to gather as Mahamadou Ceesay attempted to drill across goal into the far corner from just outside the box.

The uphill nature of the Kingfishers’ task got steeper four minutes before the break as Willmouth was sent packing. Having already been cautioned presumably for dissent, he could have few complaints about the second booking having clearly impeded Owen Wallbridge as he tried to break away on the counter as the hosts dealt with a corner. No attempt to play the ball, the focus purely being on stopping the player = second yellow, Willmouth was gone.

Guernsey came out for the second half determined to make their man advantage count and almost caught Thatcham cold within seconds. Their focus was on all the green shirts lined up on the left-hand side for the kick-off, but GFC played it short instead and drove forward though the middle. Wallbridge overran the initial chance and Charlton Gauvain collected the loose ball, but he could only find the midriff of Smart with his powerful shot.

A similar effort from Daniel-Spray three minutes later found its way into Addison’s grasp, then Loaring came within a toenail of making it two, just missing out as he slid into the six-yard box to meet another delivery from Allen, who had made one of his classic darts out wide to collect a free-kick down the line.

The home defence had a brief moment of panic as a free-kick ricocheted of Dodd into the path of Sam Tanner, but luckily his heavy touch enabled Addison to gather at the second attempt.

Allen was so close to doubling the lead midway through the half after being hauled down a good 30 yards out. It looked too far out for the number 10 to have a go, but he had a strong wind behind him and tried his luck. Smart was caught out by the attempy beaten as the ball flew towards the top-right corner, but it smacked the crossbar. Solway headed the resulting corner straight at Smart.

Solway made a vital clearance on the line to deny Ceesay after Addison had pushed away a cross-come-shot from the right, and Ceesay then blasted over from the edge of the box.

The game then took a twist when Dave Merris’ second yellow for a mistimed tackle evened the teams back up, and within a minute the visitors were level. The only blot on the otherwise superb Solway’s copybook came as his clearance was charged down and rebounded kindly for substitute Owen Clark to slot under Addison.

It looked like the Sarnians were set for a nervy finish. With the goal and the teams evened up, surely the momentum was with them in the final minutes. But Vance side did so much more than simply hold on.

With just four minutes left on the clock, Dodd chucked in a long throw from the right. Gauvain flicked it on towards the far post, where Allen couldn’t haven’t have been better place two yards out to nod it in.

Footes Lane had barely finishing celebrating when all of a sudden, two became three. In another coincidence to match the Sutton Common Rovers game, Guernsey won the ball back straight from kick-off as Dodd intercepted and Allen picked the ball up to move onto Gauvain. He initially played a through ball for substitute Brandon Wallace, who knew he was offside and retreated. Thinking their work was done, the Thatcham defence switched off and failed to communicate with Smart in goal, so Gauvain turned on the afterburners to effectively run on to his own pass. His burst of pace took him to the edge of the area, from where he slotted the ball into the far corner.

This meant breathing space to allow a home debut for Jacques Cauvin (Kieran Mahon also made his long-awaited return from injury), and Allen was unable to add gloss to the scoreline as he blast over from the angle 18 yards out.

The win took the Green Lions up a place to 18^th with a nice eight-point cushion on the relegation zone and just three points away from 14^th. With several pitches falling foul of the cold snap in the UK, the few other Isthmian South Central results were as follows: Hartley Wintney 1-0 Ascot United, Metropolitan Police 1-2 Binfield, Raynes Park Vale 1-4 Marlow, Southall 1-0 Sutton Common Rovers, Uxbridge 0-6 Chertsey Town.

GUERNSEY: 1 Josh ADDISON; 2 Niall HAINSWORTH (14 Kieran MAHON, 64’); 3 Jamie DODD (c); 4 Dave MERRIS; 5 Ben SOLWAY; 6 Seb VANCE; 7 Charlton GAUVAIN; 8 Dave RIHOY (15 Jacques CAUVIN, 88’); 9 Owen WALLBRIDGE (12 Brandon WALLACE, 87’); 10 Ross ALLEN, 11 Matt LOARING.

Booked: Merris, Gauvain, Rihoy. Sent off: Merris.

THATCHAM TOWN: 1 Callum SMART; 2 Basim MIRTHAHUASEBI (14 Daniel SMITH, 83’); 3 Kyle DANIEL-SPRAY; 4 Callum WILLMOUTH; 5 Levi HEHOLT; 6 Curtis ANGELL; 7 Sam TANNER; 8 Nathan JONES (c); 9 Jordi EBANDA (16 Clive GWAVAVA, 71’); 10 Joshua BLACKWOOD (17 Owen CLARK, 71’); 11 Muhamadou CEESAY. Not used: 12 Andrew MATTHEW; 15 Cameron SQUIRES.

Booked: Willmouth, Jones, Blackwood. Sent off: Willmouth.

Attendance: 692.

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