LIONS ARE SHOWING SURVIVAL INSTINCTS
AFTER a torrid season to date, Guernsey boss Tony Vance could be forgiven for letting out a roar of delight when his Green Lions rallied to a first home win of the season against Sutton Common Rovers on January 14.
A 1-0 victory over high-flying South Park followed three days later, leaving Vance with renewed hope of survival from an uber-tight Isthmian South Central division.
“It was a relief more than anything to get that first home win because there was a growing weight of pressure on the team,” Vance told The NLP with his team fourth from bottom before yesterday’s round of fixtures.
“It’s been the hardest season I’ve had in my ten years in charge. We’ve been dealt such cruel luck with injuries and have had five or six key players out for a really long time.
“For most clubs, injuries can be remedied by bringing in replacements but it’s not so easy for us. We can only recruit from within the island, of which there is an extremely small pool of players. It means we’ve been going into a lot of games without a full bench because we literally ran out of potential players.
“Some of our key players are coming back soon and we’re really trying to treat the second half of the campaign as a clean slate.”
With every away game requiring a flight to the mainland,Vance is quick to stress the physical and emotional toll that travelling takes.
“Family life suffers as a result. We leave early on a Saturday morning and get back late at night. It’s a huge commitment,” he added.
“We’ve taken some real heavy defeats on the road this year, which have made the long journeys back much tougher, and it’s been difficult at times getting ready to fly over to England knowing we only have half a squad.
“There are upsides to our situation though. The lads all have to spend a lot of time together so there’s a fantastic bond between them, flying out and representing the island as a whole also evokes its own unique sense of pride and determination.”
LIke fellow islanders Jersey Bells, the Green Lions enjoyed a dream start to their foray into the English pyramid with overwhelming success in the Combined Counties League.
This is now their ninth season playing at Step 4 and Vance knows how important it is for everyone at the club to stay there.
“Having a team in the English leagues is what people on the island had always dreamed of and leaving the pyramid for a year reminded us all how important it is that our players get the chance to play on the mainland,” he added.
“It’s great to be back playing after Covid and hopefully we can continue to do the island proud by staying in Step 4!”