| LANCING | 2 | – | 3 | GUERNSEY |
| Plummer 2′ Sharpe 76′ |
Brouard 80′ Cauvin 82′ Drillot 86′ |
Archie Drillot turns towards captain Ross Allen after heading in the winner
Guernsey ended their four miserable run in dramatic fashion as they turned a 2-0 deficit into victory in the final 10 minutes at the GoCardless stadium on Saturday.
Corey Brouard inspired the comeback having come off the bench with 15 minutes left. Lancing may have doubled their lead just a minute later, but the Guernsey midfield hauled his side back into the contest with a powerful finish with 10 to play and then delivered the corner kicks that allowed Jacques Cauvin and Archie Drillot to head home the leveller and winner respectively – all within six minutes. Brouard and Drillot’s goals were their first for the club.
It couldn’t have been a worse start for Tony Vance’s out-of-form side as Ryan Plummer’s inswinging corner flew all the way into the far corner inside two minutes.
It was a lively opening to the game as both teams looked to attack. Ross Allen cleared the crossbar before Jacob Fallaize glanced a corner just wide. Vance was forced into an early change as Simon Arnold was replaced by Tom Dodds, who showed his value with an important block on Adrian Nsue-Sha’s shot.
Allen cleared the bar again with a free-kick, before Elliot Dailly reacted quickly to deny Brandon Wallace after he was teed up by the lively Dylan Graham.
The Lancers almost made an identical start to the second half, with half-time substitute Antoine Sharpe straight into the action as he ran onto Mohamed Khedidji’s pass and beat Seb Sheppard, but not the post and the ball bounced clear.
Will Fazakerley put the ball into the net from Graham’s assist but the referee chalked it off for the ball going just out of play in the build-up, while Sheppard denied Dylan Walter to save Fallaize’s blushes after a loose header.
Fazakerley was unlucky to see a free-kick whistle narrowly wide to Dailly’s left. Vance made two changes to send George Goubert and Brouard into the action, but it looked like game over as the game ticked into the final 15 minutes as Sharpe broke clear and slotted past Sheppard to double the hosts’ lead and appeared to condemn Guernsey to a five-game losing streak in September.
But Brouard took the game by the scruff on the neck. With 10 minutes left, Graham picked out Allen in the middle. The Guernsey captain produced a lovely turn to beat his man and dink a ball into the six yard box. The defensive header dropped straight to Brouard, who took one touch to control before thumping a volley past Dailly into the ceiling of the net.
Corey Brouard volleys Guernsey back into the game, getting his first goal for the club with 10 minutes to go
Just two minutes later and a seemingly dead-and-buried Guernsey were level. This time Brouard turned supplier as his corner was glanced on by Cauvin into the far corner to snatch a point, or so we thought.
Jacob Fallaize celebrates as Jacques Cauvin’s header brings the scores level
Another corner, another header. This time it was another defender Drillot at the far post, who rose highest to head the ball down and it snuck into the corner to stun the Culver Road crowd, who had seen their side crumble in a six-minute spell.
Archie Drillot celebrates his first goal, which turned out to be the winner
The win ensured the Green Lions’ September was not fruitless and sent them back into the top half of the Southern Combination Premier Division. Saturday’s other results were as follows: AFC Varndeanians 0-2 Billingshurst, Bexhill United 1-2 Lingfield, Crawley Down Gatwick 1-3 Hassocks, East Grinstead Town 2-1 Little Common, Forest Row 4-1 Wick, Horsham YM 1-1 Haywards Heath Town, Midhurst & Easebourne 0-6 Eastbourne Town, Pagham 1-0 Seaford Town, Roffey 2-1 Newhaven.
LANCING: 1 Elliot DAILLY; 2 Dylan HURST; 3 Ryan PLUMMER; 4 Scott PACKER; 5 William McKAY; 6 Archie McGONIGLE; 7 Emmanuel N’CHO; 8 Adrian NSUE-SHA; 9 Dylan WALTER (Samuel-Elie N’CHO 66′); 10 Robert DEDA (Antoine SHARPE, HT); 11 Mohamed KHEDIDJI (Szymon KOWALCZYK, 70′). Not used: Denzell DUBE.
Booked: Deda, Plummer.
GUERNSEY: 13 Seb SHEPPARD; 6 Seb VANCE; 10 Ross ALLEN (c); 11 Brandon WALLACE (20 George GOUBERT, 66′); 14 Simon ARNOLD (4 Tom DODDS, 32′); 19 Will FAZAKERLEY; 21 Jacques CAUVIN; 22 Fin PATTERSON (16 Corey BROUARD, 75′); 23 Archie DRILLOT; 24 Jacob FALLAIZE; 25 Dylan GRAHAM (3 Jamie DODD 87′).
Booked: Dodds, Graham.
Attendance: 202.
