Loaring's Guernsey FC landmark is 'incredible'

Image source, Fran Torode

Image caption, Matt Loaring had trials at Watford, Leeds United and Grimsby Town as a youngster

Matt Loaring's contribution to Guernsey FC has been described as "incredible" by manager Tony Vance after the midfielder made his 400th appearance for the club.

Loaring made his debut in Guernsey's third-ever competitive game in August 2011.

His 105 goals for the club has only been bettered by record goalscorer Ross Allen.

Loaring reached his milestone in Guernsey's 2-1 loss to Hayes and Yeading United on Saturday.

"His contribution is just incredible," Vance told 大象传媒 Radio Guernsey.

"400 games first and foremost at any level is huge.

"But at this level when you have to travel and you have to give up an awful lot of your life, and that includes his family and his work.

"They've been very supportive along the way as well, so they mustn't be forgotten in this."

Vance added: "The thing about him is he's still going strong - his numbers and contributions in terms of assists, goals, pre-assists, building play, but also the distance he travels, the speed - he's right up there in and top of the pile, and that's incredible.

"For anyone who wants a piece of the pie they've only got to look at Matt Loaring because he's had to reinvent herself a number of times positionally, but also hang in there, been left out, kept coming back, and huge respect to him for that."

Guernsey must 'stick to the process'

Image source, Fran Torode

Image caption, Guernsey FC had been 1-0 up against Hayes and Yeading before losing 2-1

The defeat kept Guernsey in the bottom two of Isthmian League South Central - they are five points from moving out of the relegation zone after one win and three draws in their 13 games this season.

But despite their poor form Vance is still convinced his side's results will turn the corner as he has been impressed with much of their play.

"We're doing really well, we're close," he said.

"The difference between the two teams was we made two poor errors, which cost us unfortunately.

"We pinned a good team back, and the signs are there, we've got to get those final pieces of the jigsaw.

"One's about conceding silly goals and the other is taking our opportunities.

"We had a lot of entries into their box and lots of 'oohs' and 'aahs', but not quite over the line.

"Our general play is good and we've got to stick to the process and keep going."