Guernsey 2, Army 4
GUERNSEY put up a brave fight last night but the Army took victory to seal the Women’s South & West Counties Championship. On a heavy Track pitch, the greens went behind to a clearly more talented and fitter visiting team, but they dug deep to level things early in the second half.
However, the Army proved why they are the best in the competition as their star striker Kim Holden went on to wrap up a hat-trick to seal the win and the title.
Despite the defeat, the Sarnians had a lot to be proud of.
‘An amazing effort and I’m absolutely over the moon,’ said Guernsey coach Ian Champion.
‘There is a helluva lot I can take away from that when you consider the standard of the Army. They’ve won the South & West and they’ve beaten teams by five goals.
‘We’re now competing at this level. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve lost, but I feel we’ve achieved something as well.’
It did not take long for Holden to establish herself as the best player on the pitch with her pace and balance and deft little turns.
She put the visitors in the lead within the opening 10 minutes when she broke clear of the Guernsey defence to put the ball past keeper Kayleigh Marquis.
Twenty minutes later and a little against the run of play, the greens made it 1-1 when veteran midfielder Lisa Sylvester got on the end of a deep Rochelle Vaudin free kick to bundle the ball over the line.
The Army reacted by bombarding Marquis’s goal and she did well to keep them at bay.
But her resilience broke on the stroke of half-time as the whites’s midfielder Amanda Turnbull managed to get one over her and in from a long distance.
At the break, Champion replaced wingback Cath Hennessy with Sophie Warren and changed the formation of his team from 3-5-2 to
4-4-2.
That seemed to work as, after soaking up some more pressure, they scored a peach of a goal on the hour mark, as their best player on the night, centre forward Kate Watson, played a delightful one-two with Vaudin before sending the ball home.
However, their jubilation was short lived as a couple of minutes later Holden put the Army ahead again with another piece of quality skill.
As the island side’s legs tired in the sodden turf, they became guilty of ball watching as the Army’s superior fitness started to pay dividends.
Holden wrapped up her hat-trick with 12 minutes to go when she cut in from the flank before blasting the ball past Marquis.
Guernsey striker Dani Gervaise-Brazier, on her debut, had a chance as the clock ticked down, but it came to nothing and the Army players were soon celebrating victory and the title at the final whistle.
The Army coach Captain Sandra Hodgson MBE praised the Guernsey team.
‘I’m really pleased as it was a really good performance,’ she said.
‘We came here knowing that if we won here we’d win the championship. Eight years down the line and we’ve managed to pick it up.
‘It’s fantastic and Guernsey have stepped up to the mark. They are certainly better than the last time we played them.
‘We didn’t prepare for them to be as good as that.’
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