Guernsey’s victorious squad begin their celebrations at Springfield. (Picture by Matthew Hotton)

GUERNSEY lifted the first Muratti silverware of the season, but boy did they leave it late at Springfield on Saturday afternoon.

Ben Coulter’s goal five minutes into stoppage time forced an extra half-hour and with just a minute remaining of the extra period Glyn Dyer hit a dramatic winner for Martyn de Garis’s side who had been two down with less than 10 minutes left.

It was the introduction of St Martin’s winger Jason Winch that did the trick, a point de Garis recognised. ‘Jason came off the bench and he changed the game for us. He had proved me wrong showing that he should have started and I take my hat off to him and congratulate him for doing that.’

Jersey were stunned by the defeat. Assistant coach Dave Brodie said: ‘We were cruising and I thought we were going to win comfortably.’

Meanwhile, developments in the UK suggest the chance of an island club side playing in the Kent Premier League next season are perhaps receding.

An article in a Kent newpaper said the project may fail after the idea got a muted response from the division’s existing clubs who are concerned they might have to cough up money for a 450-mile round trip to away games in Guernsey.