After a stop-start opening two months due to cup action for their opponents, Guernsey can finally get into the meat of their season due in October.
Thanks to two postponements, the Green Lions have four home fixtures, two of them in midweek as part of a bumper six-game month, giving them a taste of both the top and bottom ends of the Isthmian South Central table.
Here, we look at how October is shaping up.
Saturday 5th October, Farnham Town (h), Footes Lane, 2pm
This is one GFC fans would have been eyeing up ever since the fixtures came out in July, as much for the past as for the present. We last faced Farnham Town back in our promotion season of 2012/13, when we met three times. We beat them 2-0 in September on the second step of our run to the FA Vase semi-final (the goals coming from Ross Allen and a thumper from Ryan-Zico Black). We then didn’t face them again until the midst of our mammoth run towards the end of the season, one of 16 games in April. Dom Heaume equalised before a crucial winner from Nigel Hutton at the Memorial Ground to kept the Green Lions in the title hunt. The last meeting was the last of four games in four straight days to end the season, with Matt Loaring’s close-range effort enough to earn promotion for Tony Vance’s side, who were denied a second goal to make it comfortable when Ross Allen’s shot wasn’t given despite crossing the line. It’s a very different outlook for Farnham these days. With heavy financial backing, they have moved up from Combined Counties Division One to Isthmian South Central, winning last season’s Combined Counties Premier Division South with 35 wins out of 38, scoring 130 goals in the process, an average of more than three goals a game. They are unbeaten in 55 league matches.
This season, it’s seven wins out of seven in the league, averaging nearly four goals a game, scoring five or more three times. Owen Dean already is already onto double figures for the season. Can the Green Lions pull of a shock and be the first team to beat Farnham Town since February 2023?
Wednesday 9th October, Binfield (h), Footes Lane, 7.45pm
Like last season, Binfield are struggling at the bottom early on. They were rooted there last season until the turn of the year when a change of management, an increase in budget and an influx of new players saw a complete turnaround and they eventually pipped Chipstead to the final survival spot in the closing stages of the season. Jack Griffin’s final goal for the club before his big move to Bristol earned all three points for GFC at Hill Farm Lane just before Christmas, while an exciting 3-3 draw in April edged both clubs a point closer to survival. On paper it looks like one of our most winnable, but it isn’t unusual for a struggling team to turn up at Footes Lane with several new signings to change their fortunes, so it is not one to be taken for granted.
Saturday 12th October, Raynes Lane (a), The Tithe Farm Social Club, 3pm
Rayners Lane have proven tough to beat since winning the Combined Counties League Premier Division North last season, with just two defeats from their opening eight games. But they have found wins hard to come by too, with just one alongside five draws. Their solitary win though, was a 5-0 thumping of a strong Raynes Park Vale side. An unknown entity and a new ground for Tony Vance’s side.
Wednesday 16th October, Uxbridge (h), Footes Lane, 7.45pm
A 3-0 home win for Guernsey in this fixture last season, in which Owen Wallbridge scored his first goal for the club, was what really kickstarted the Green Lions’ campaign last season as it was their first win in more than three months, since the opening day. The return fixture coincided with the Muratti semi-final so it was a very young side that lost 2-0. Uxbridge finished a comfortable midtable last season and sit in a simlar position this season with 10 points from their opening seven games. They are unbeaten in six in all competitions and are still in the FA Trophy. Could that prove a distraction that works to Guernsey’s advantage?
Saturday 19th October, Raynes Park Vale (h), Footes Lane, 2pm
Guernsey and Raynes Park Vale shared 14 goals between them in two thrillers last season. Unfortunately, the Green Lions lost by the odd goal in both. They led 2-1 with two minutes to go at Footes Lane but a late equaliser and a stoppage-time stunner from Jordan Gallagher, who had earlier scored straight from a corner, turned the game on its head. In the final match of last season, Guernsey thought they had snatched a point at the death as a Sam Murray hat-trick helped them come back 4-2 down, but Vale got another later winner. Raynes Park are showing a similar pattern this season, with one of the division’s leakiest defences as well as one of the most potent attacks. We could be in for another humdinger.
Saturday 26th October, Metropolitan Police (a), Imber Court, 2pm
Metropolitan Police spent the majority of last season in the lower half of the table but Guernsey couldn’t manage a win over them. The Green Lions were pegged back late on at Footes Lane, punished for not finishing the game off, and lost a half-time lead to leave Imber Court Empty handed in January. The Blues and Twos have only won once in seven league games since victory on the opening day, and this is the sort of fixture Tony Vance will be targeting a positive result from if the Green Lions are going to achieve their inital target of staying up this season.
