HARROW BOROUGH   0
GUERNSEY                   3 (Fallaize 15'; du Port 45'; Gauvain 47')

Guernsey have been relegated from Step Four of the English non-league pyramid, but did all they could on the final day of the season with arguably their best performance of the campaign at Harrow Borough.

Unfortunately, two late goals by Metropolitan Police at Sutton Common Rovers meant the Green Lions couldn't catch them, so even four wins in their last five games wasn't enough to save the Sarnians, who are down by a single point.

Ultimately, that 99th-minute loss at South Park left the Green Lions with too much of a mountain to climb and they can point to several other late concessions as their Achilles heel. This includes what now has turned out to be a very significant last-ditch concession to draw 3-3 with Met Police in October, as well as a defeat to Binfield in October with virtually the last kick of the game and a 90^th minute goal for Horndean at Footes Lane in February. The Green Lions would have finished above all four had those goals not gone in. GFC have dropped 15 points to goals conceded after the 85th minute. They are good enough to compete at this level and would have been comfortably in midtable if it wasn't for that particular foible.

But ultimately, the table doesn’t lie and Tony Vance’s side will have to readjust to life in step five, whether that is back in the Combined Counties League or elsewhere.

Dennis Kelmendi shot just wide of the post early on but otherwise the Green Lions set about their hosts with the bit between their teeth as they couldn’t accept anything less than a win. Tom Vaudin headed over from a corner before the visitors took the lead on the quarter hour as Jacob Fallaize headed home Charlton Gauvain’s near-post flag-kick, getting across his man to the near post and guiding the ball across goal into the far corner.

Sam Murray inadvertently got in the way of Gauvain’s header and also thought he had doubled the lead just before the half-hour but he was flagged offside.

Guernsey picked a great time to get their second, just before half-time, as Harrow could only clear Brandon Wallace’s cross as far as Fin du Port on the edge of the area and the midfielder fired into the corner, marking Guernsey's 1,000th goal in league competition (including play-offs).

Jacob Fallaize was forced off early in the second half with a head injury, but GFC extended their lead within minutes of the restart as Gauvain headed home Wallace’s cross to grab his 30^th goal for the club.

Josh Addison had to be alert to push over a looping shot from range just before the hour, but otherwise the defence were solid on route to a milestone 100th clean sheet, and the first time since December 2019 to January 2020 that they have kept three consecutive shut-outs on the road.

Allen fired just wide after Gauvain put two defenders on their backsides and teed him up, while Tom Dodds made an important block at the other end as Guernsey stood up to a brief spell of Harrow pressure.

At this point, the Green Lions were just a Sutton Common Rovers goal away from completing the great escape, but the news filtered through that Met Police had scored two quick goals in the final 10 minutes to secure their safety.

The club is devastated to have finally fallen through the trapdoor after a proud record of 12 years at this level, but the Green Lions must turn this setback into a positive - a chance for our young players to develop in a less harsh environment, and the Victoria Park crowd hopefully witnessing a significantly higher proportion of wins.

Saturday's other Isthmian South Central results were as follows: Ashford Town 0-5 Southall, Badshot Lea 2-3 Raynes Park Vale, Binfield 0-3 Farnham Town, Hanworth Villa 5-2 Horndean, Hartley Wintney 0-2 Leatherhead, Kingstonian 2-2 Ascot United, Moneyfields 6-5 Rayners Lane, South Park 2-1 Hayes & Yeading United, Sutton Common Rovers 0-2 Metropolitan Police, Westfield 0-1 Uxbridge.

HARROW BOROUGH: 1 Andrew McCORKELL; 2 Keegan BLOOM (16 Karl BAILEY, 63’); 3 Mack MISKIN; 4 Carl STEWART (c); 5 Rayon ATKINSON (15 Luke TINGEY, 8’); 6 James GURTEEN; 7 Kai HAMILTON (12 Nais SHARIFI, 51’); 8 Harry McCORKELL; 9 Nick DEMBELE (14 Stephane BOMBELENGA, 50’); 10 Dennis KELMENDI (17 Lamin CEESAY, 53’); 11 Jordan HAMILTON-OLISE.

Booked: H McCorkell, Sharifi.

GUERNSEY: 1 Josh ADDISON; 4 Tom DODDS; 5 Tom VAUDIN; 7 Charlton GAUVAIN (18 Dave MERRIS 76’); 8 Matt LOARING; 9 Sam MURRAY; 10 Ross ALLEN (22 Fin PATTERSON, 77’); 12 Fin DU PORT; 17 Brandon WALLACE; 21 Jacques CAUVIN; 24 Jacob FALLAIZE (15 Seb VANCE, 47’).

Booked: Wallace.

Attendance: 185.