Guernsey FC’s men and ladies, Guernsey Raiders, and the St Jaques Vikings were all in action this weekend, so how did the matches play out?
Guernsey FC
The men’s team played host to Staplehurst Monarchs in the FA Vase, with the 3 – 0 win over the step six side enough to see GFC cruise to the next round.
Goals came through Jacob Fallaize with a header to open the scoring, a Ross Allen penalty to provide a bit of breathing room, before Ben Solway’s first goal for the club sealed the win.
The Green Lions are next in action against Horsham YM in the Southern Combination Football League. The UK side are one place below GFC in the league, tied on points, however they’ve also played and lost an extra game, and have a -3 goal difference to Guernsey.
They’re due to kick off on Saturday, at 14:00 at Victoria Park.
The Green Lionesses had a similarly successful weekend as they romped home to victory, away at Andover New Street, 1 – 3.
The Guernsey side fell behind early on, conceding in the sixth minute, however they were soon back level, just nine minutes later thanks to Calleigh Hedley, who marked her 20th appearance in style.
The game may have fallen into the usual stylings of a 1- 1 draw, with Guernsey pushing to break through the UK side’s defence time after time, with one effort resulting in a direct red card for an Andover player, having used her arm to block a goal scoring chance.
With a player in hand, Guernsey FC capitalised, with Hedley scoring again on the 83rd minute, and netting a penalty in the closing stages (90+1 Minutes).
Hedley completed her hatrick, marking her 20th appearance with goals galore.
The win puts Guernsey level on points with league leaders Farnham Town, although they do have two games in hand against the Green Lionesses, and a greatly improved goal difference.
The league is looking to be a close one, with third place Havant and Waterlooville also matching 12 points a piece and tied with Guernsey on Goal Difference. However, they’ve lost more games so they currently sit in third.
Guernsey FC Women are next in action on Sunday when they face ninth placed Bursledon.
This weekend’s opponents have only won one game out of the five they played, the rest have been lost.
Kick off is 14:00 this Sunday away to Bursledon.
Guernsey Raiders
The Raiders’ continued their season with a close knit fight to the end in their victory over Sevenoaks.
Their second away win of the season came down to just four points, with the Raiders overcoming the UK side 41 – 45 at their home ground.
It makes four wins on the bounce for Guernsey following home wins against Oundle and Esher, and an away win against the Oxford Harlequins.
Having started the season with three defeats in a row, the Guernsey side have started to show their form, and are rocketing up the table.
Now sitting 7th the Raiders are just nine points off top side Old Albanians.
Guernsey Raiders Ladies had a week to work with themselves after their weekend opponents were unable to make the travel down to the Bailiwick.
The match has been postponed, with the Worthing Warriors now expected to make the trip in December.
The Ladies didn’t have the weekend off, instead hosting an internal competition with 30 women all taking to the pitch for an in-house game.
They’re next in league action in November, when they pay a visit to Pulborough Women.
St Jaques Vikings
Saturday also saw the St Jaques Vikings in action, facing a Portsmouth side determined to take home the points.
In the fifth match of their Hampshire Counties 1 Division campaign the Vikings held on thanks to a decisive tackle from Captain Tom Veillard, and an excellent recovery from Henry Watkin put an end to the visitors late push.
The 38 – 35 win puts the Vikings in a more positive position. Coming off a run of back to back losses in the previous four games of the campaign, it hopefully could be the spark the sends St Jaques season on a march up the league table.
They’re next in action on 8 November with kick off at 13:30 at Footes Lane.