| GUERNSEY | 8 | – | 1 | FOREST ROW |
| Fazakerley 39′ Murray 45+1′ Chang (OG) 61′ Allen 64′ Vaudin 70′ Solway 84′ Loaring 88′ Arnold 90+1′ | Feeney-Hill 51′ |
Guernsey confirmed their place in the play-offs in emphatic fashion on a free-scoring Easter Monday at Victoria Park.
It was a blistering end to the game with the six of the Green Lions’ goals coming in the final half-hour to blow Forest Row away after being pegged back early in the second half.
Will Fazakerley and Sam Murray had put the Sarnians in command towards the end of a tense first half and, helped by an own goal, there were eight different names on the scoresheet for Tony Vance’s side as they took their league tally to 120 goals with four games still to play.
With two games in three days, Vance rang the changes to throw in a few fresh legs and their performance may have given him a selection dilemma for the run-in. Ross Allen, Matt Loaring and Dave Merris dropped to the bench after Saturday’s win while Brandon Wallace and Niall Hainsworth were rested completely, meaning Tom Vaudin and Ben Solway were restored to the defence, Fin Patterson supported the attack and Fin du Port returned in midfield, partnered by Simon Arnold in an unfamiliar role.
Forest Row were happy to sit deep and try to hit the Lions over the top on the break in what was a scrappy first half. Chances were few and far between. Fazakerley glanced a header just with from Simon Arnold’s cross, while Josh Addison was alert to turn over Alex Felipe’s free-kick.
Late by Guernsey’s standards, the deadlock was broken on 35 minutes. Addison claimed a cross and bowled it out quickly to Fin du Port to set GFC away on the counter. Du Port clipped the ball into the channel for Murray to chase and hook the bouncing ball in from the right byline. A contest in the middle saw the ball break kindly for Fazakerley on the edge of the box to stroke the ball into the bottom corner.
A scramble in the Frow area a few minutes later saw Fin Patterson and Murray both have efforts blocked and a defender also headed off the line. When the visitors did clear and go on the counter attack, the home defence recovered brilliantly was Yashua Smith got in behind but his shot was deflected into Addison’s arms.
The second came in timely fashion just as the first half ticked into injury time. As Gil Hunter arrowed a ball forward, Ryan Green seemed more interested in wrestling with Murray as the ball dropped but Guernsey’s big number nine, skipper for the day, was able to shrug him off, spin and hit the ball on the turn, sending it across goal into the far corner.
The Lions came out for the second half looking to put the game to bed and they came close as Fazakerley headed a corner onto the crossbar, possibly via the fingertips of Ethan McGraph, and then nodded just over from Ben Solway’s throw.
But suddenly the result was thrown back into down as Forest Row took a quick free-kick. A couple of blocks as the ball came into the area were not followed up with a clearance and Matt Feeney-Hill collected, shuffled neatly onto his left foot and tucked the ball into the corner.
Luckily, there was a quick response from the Greens and they restored and then extended their lead just after the hour. Not long after du Port had fired over from range, Callum Le Lacheur was picked out on the right and his dangerous low cross was turned into his own net by the lunging Jaiden Chang. It was a great way for Le Lacheur to sign off for the afternoon as he was replaced by Ross Allen, who had an instant impact as he latched on to a loose fall from Fazakerley’s chipped cross and thumped the ball in from six yards.
Fazakerley was off target with a couple of efforts from outside the box and Guernsey made it 5-1 on 70 minutes as Solway headed du Port’s corner into a dangerous area where Tom Vaudin was waiting to lash it into the roof of the net from close range – his second of the season.
Matt Loaring also had an impact off the bench with a goal and an assist but was nearly the provider earlier as he moved the ball onto Fin Patterson then made a clever run to create space for the teenager to cut inside and shoot left footed, with the ball whistling just over.
Another defender got on the scoresheet as Solway made it six with six minutes left. Loaring was offside from Addison’s ball forward but he left the ball and the visiting defence switched off, allowing Solway to run in and fire across goal into the far corner.
Everyone in this rampant Guernsey side now wanted to get in on the act, and Loaring did for the seventh. Substitute Tom Dodds was key to it as he intercepted on the edge of his own box, strode forward and hit a lovely high ball out to the left into the path of fellow replacement Frazer Maginnis. He squared for Loaring, who chopped the ball onto his left and picked out the far corner.
Arnold had been deployed in central midfield in the refreshed line-up and had an excellent game, capped off with a deserved goal in injury time. Addison clipped another ball out to the left for Solway, who headed inside for Loaring. His clever ball sent the overlapping Arnold into the area behind the defence and he applied the finishing touch.
Although a late title tilt is unlikely, GFC have caught up three points on both sides above them this weekend. Haywards Heath Town bounced back from two straight defeats to beat Steyning Town, meaning they are still just catchable if they slip up in a couple more of their tough games to end the season. A defeat for Horsham YM also means we have tightened our grip on third place.
Monday’s other results were as follows: Eastbourne United 4-0 Seaford Town, Haywards Heath Town 3-0 Steyning Town, Horsham YM 1-2 Roffey, Lancing 1-3 Wick, Lingfield 3-1 Crawley Down Gatwick, Little Common 1-2 Bexhill United, Newhaven 1-4 Peacehaven & Telscombe, Pagham 2-1 Midhurst & Easebourne, Shoreham 1-3 AFC Varndeanians.
GUERNSEY: 1 Josh ADDISON; 5 Tom VAUDIN (4 Tom DODDS, 78′); 9 Sam MURRAY (c) (23 Frazer MAGINNIS, 74′); 12 Fin DU PORT (18 Dave MERRIS, 79′); 14 Simon ARNOLD; 15 Ben SOLWAY; 16 Gil HUNTER; 17 Callum LE LACHEUR (10 Ross ALLEN, 62′); 19 Will FAZAKERLEY (8 Matt LOARING, 71′); 20 George GOUBERT; 22 Fin PATTERSON.
FOREST ROW: 1 Ethan McGRAPH; 2 Zach LAMONT; 3 Alex FILIPE (14 Gabe DARBY, 63′); 4 Jaiden CHANG (12 Tommy SEALE, 67′); 5 Ryan GREEN; 6 Ollie COWDREY; 7 George COUSINS; 8 Matty FEENEY-HILL; 9 Tiago ANDRADE (15 Connor HAYDEN-PICKERING, 67′); 10 Terrique HALL-ANDERSON; 11 Yashua SMITH.
Booked: Filipe.
Attendance: 1,117.
