Walton & Hersham 6 (Morris 12; Ogun-Forster 25’; Adeyemi 30’; Francis 42’; Garzon 67’, Roberts 80’)
Guernsey 0
A threadbare Guernsey side suffered a second straight heavy loss on Saturday, this time at promotion-chasing Walton & Hersham.
Due to injuries and illness, the Green Lions only had two substitutes to choose from, one of which was a goalkeeper, leaving Tony Vance with very little options to change things up.
To their credit, the Sarnians never gave up on a difficult afternoon, never shirking their duties under motivation from captain Jamie Dodd, who showed his leadership is as important as ever on his milestone 350th appearance for the club.
It was pretty much attack versus defence with Maliq Morris getting the first on 11 minutes, collecting the ball on the edge of the box and placing his shot into the bottom corner.
Dominic Ogun-Forster doubled the lead on 25 minutes, following up after Josh Addison made the initial save from Palace Francis.
It was three on the half-hour. This time, Ogun-Forster turned provider as he slipped the ball in for Jordan Adeyemi to calmly slots past Addison.
Addison wasn’t being helped by the bright sun shining straight at him, and it played a part as he was left rooted to the spot and unable to keep out Francis’ terrific strike from way out.
Guernsey were more stubborn in the second half, with the Swans also taking their foot off the gas a little. It took until midway through the second half for the fifth, as Adeyemi skipped through and teed up Brian Garzon to finish.
Taurean Roberts pounced on a mistake from Addison to make it six with 10 minutes to go and close the lid on a gruelling afternoon for the Green Lions.
Guernsey have gone through difficult periods like this before and come out the other side stronger. It’s just a case of gritting their teeth through the current situation and refocus in the new year with a few more options available.
Two more imporant games loom for GFC before the end of the year as midtable Hanworth Villa at Footes Lane in our final game before Christmas on Saturday, before a six-pointer against fellow strugglers Tooting & Mitcham United on Boxing Day.
Walton & Hersham: 1 Liam Allen; 2 Harry Mills; 3 Dominic Ogun-Forster (12 Jude Molloy, HT); 4 Arsen Ujkaj; 5 Mitchal Gough; 6 Joe Hicks (14 Charlie Nicholas, HT); 7 Palace Francis; 8 Maliq Morris; 9 Jordan Adeyemi; 10 Alex Kelly (15 Brian Garzon, 60’); 11 Taurean Roberts. Not used: 16 Eddie Simon; 17 John Gilbert.
Guernsey: 1 Josh Addison; 2 Keanu Marsh (12 Brandon Wallace, 54’); 3 Jamie Dodd (c); 4 Tom Dodds; 5 Tom Vaudin; 6 Kieran Mahon; 7 Dave Merris; 8 Liam Mahon; 9 Keene Domaille; 10 Danny Hale; 11 Matt Loaring. Not used: 13 Jason Martin.
Booked: K Mahon.
Attendance: 210.
Highlights are available on GFCTV.
