Ten-man Guernsey FC get tense Steyning Town win

Ten-man Guernsey FC kept up their excellent form in the Southern Combination Premier Division with a tense 3-2 win over second-placed Steyning Town.

The third-placed Green Lions' 10th win in 11 matches sees them close the gap to their opponents to eight points with two games in hand.

Ross Allen kept up his recent goalscoring feats as he put the Green Lions into a 12th-minute lead, chipping the goalkeeper after latching on to Gil Hunter's pass over the top.

The veteran striker - who scored the 29th hat-trick of his Guernsey career last week - doubled his side's tally 18 minutes later when he fired in a rebound after his initial effort was saved.

But Steyning - whose only loss all season was at home to Guernsey back in September - pulled a goal back seven minutes later when Alex Brewer deflected Ryan Worrall's shot past Josh Addison.

Midway through the second half the hosts made it 3-1 when George Goubert scored his first-ever goal for the islanders as he superbly finished another Hunter ball over the top.

Guernsey were reduced to 10 men with 20 minutes left when Addison was sent off for denying a goalscoring opportunity, with substitute Will Fazakerley forced to go in goal.

With an extra man and facing a striker in goal, Steyning piled on the pressure - Charlton Gauvain blocked a shot with his head before Stanley Bridgman hit an 87th-minute penalty against the bar after a foul in the home box.

But Marcus Allen was on hand to get on the end of a ball into the area to make it 3-2 in the first of more than 10 minutes of stoppage time, and two minutes later the visitors thought they had levelled, but were denied by an offside flag.

Steyning had Max Blencowe sent to the sin bin in the fifth minute of stoppage time, but despite both sides having 10 men they again went close, this time from a corner, but Guernsey and Fazakerley held out for a memorable win.

"Wow what a game. It had everything didn't it," Guernsey FC boss Tony Vance told BBC Radio Guernsey. "Pretty much absolutely everything for a game of football that could you could want as a spectator, not as a manager.

"At the end of the day the most important bit of today was we got the win.

"I think a year ago we wouldn't have won that game, six months ago even, so to get the three points is the best bit of out today."

Vance says he was surprised that Fazakerley - a former Guernsey cricket international who once played a First-Class game for Leicestershire in 2017 - decided to go in goal:

"They say that goalkeepers are a strange breed and you have to be kind of like a bit of a clown to go in goal.

"We've got Jacques Cauvain and I thought he was perfect for the role, so I was screaming at him, but at that point Faz decided it was him.

"I know he was a professional cricketer, but I would imagine he didn't field in the slips much."

Fazakerley has scored five goals in 25 appearances for the Green Lions this season, but his appearance in goal after coming on for Allen early in the second half of Saturday's win may well be the most memorable he will have during this campaign.

"I knew there were better footballers than me out on the pitch and I used to be a cricketer, so I thought 'I should be able to catch a ball'," Fazakerley joked. "It turns out it's little bit harder.

"I'm just glad it's over - I thought we only had three minutes of added time, and the boys were like 'it's eight' and I had five minutes left.

"But I'm just buzzing that we got over the line, to take six points off them is massive because they're a good team and you can see why they're so high."