| MIDHURST & EASEBOURNE | 3 | – | 0 | GUERNSEY |
| Kimber 5′ Pelham 34′ Anelay 80′ |
A bad night at the office means Guernsey’s wait to secure a home semi-final goes on as their second attempted visit at Midhurst & Easebourne ended in a disappointing defeat.
It just didn’t click in any areas of the pitch for the Green Lions, who to be fair were missing key names. They seemed disconnected in attack, unable to put moves together or find the intended target with the final ball.
It was a different proposition to the last meeting, with the hosts having brought in several players from a higher level since in their bid for survival, which is now secure following their three points.
As they did in the original fixture, it was the Stags who took the lead as they broke away down the left and it was pulled back from the left byline for Callum Kimber to turn it home from close range. The Guernsey defence protested offside at the original ball down the line but their claims were ignored.
But this time there was no case of the Greens roaring back into it. They did their best to exert themselves on the game but were struggling to get to grips with the bobbly playing surface.
They did create good chances as the half wore on though. Fin du Port headed Ross Allen’s chip down for Will Fazakerley but his first-time strike was dragged just wide.
Connor Duffin drove down the right for the hosts and picked out Owen Pelham in the middle, who rolled his marker but his rising shot was straight at Addison, who held.
Allen saw a free-kick free-kick deflected behind, then a corner dropped to him on the edge of the box and he couldn’t quite keep it below the crossbar as he hooked towards goal.
Midhurst doubled their lead on 34 minutes as Pelham broke in behind. The assistant referee had his flag up very early as he rounded Addison and tucked in from the angle but the referee correctly pointed out that the ball ‘forward’ had actually been played back by a Guernsey midfielder and so there was no offside to give.
The Lions kept pressing and Fazakelery clipped in a cross from the left that found Le Lacheur at the far post, who stabbed a volley towards goal from point blank range but somehow Mendoza got across to make a brilliant stop.
Towards the end of the half, the ball fell to Tom Dodds in the box but his low shot towards the near post hit a team mate before bouncing out, while Brandon Wallace was unlucky to see a dipping volley fly just over.
The hosts were almost out of site within 30 seconds of the restart as Dodds misjudged a bounce and missed his header, presenting Pelham with a chance to shoot from the edge of the box but Addison tipped it side.
A second free-kick from Allen was closer as he got it round the wall but Mendoza got down to turn it away, while Rudi Blankson was low and wide from a similar position at the other end moments later.
Midhurst made the game safe with 10 minutes left as Niall Hainsworth hesitated on a through ball, allowing Ralph Anelay to get onto it first, spot Addison off his line and loft it out of his reach before it dropped into the net.
Anelay should have made it four in the closing stages as he forced his way past Wallace but Addison stood strong to make the block.
The defeat means second place is officially out of reach for Guernsey, who still need to win one of their remaining games to securing third place and a home semi-final in the playoffs.
MIDHURST & EASEBOURNE: 1 Ricardo MENDOZA; 3 Rocco GAMBLIN (16 Eric-Georges DELAUD, 79’); 4 Rudi BLANKSON; 5 Brandon MILLER; 6 Harrison HIDE; 7 Owen PELHAM; 8 Liam KIMBER (c); 9 Marley RIDGE; 10 Miles EVERETT; 11 Callum KIMBER; 18 Connor DUFFIN (17 Ralph ANELAY, 40’). Not used: 12 Seamus GRIFFIN-TILLEY; 14 Robert TUDWAY; 15 Jack McCORMACK.
GUERNSEY: 1 Josh ADDISON; 2 Niall HAINSWORTH; 4 Tom DODDS (23 Frazer MAGINNIS, 69’); 6 Seb VANCE (16 Gil HUNTER, 58’); 8 Matt LOARING; 9 Sam MURRAY; 10 Ross ALLEN (c); 11 Brandon WALLACE; 12 Fin DU PORT; 17 Callum LE LACHEUR; 19 Will FAZAKERLEY (22 Fin PATTERSON 81;).
Booked: Murray, Loaring.
Attendance: 80.
