Guernsey FC suffer 'painful' draw at Ascot United

Guernsey FC have won two and lost 11 of their 17 games this season

Guernsey FC coach Kevin Gilligan has described his side's 3-3 draw at Ascot United as "pretty painful" as the islanders threw away a 3-0 lead in the final 15 minutes.

Matt Loaring gave Guernsey an 11th-minute lead before record goalscorer Ross Allen made it 2-0 a minute later.

Loaring got a second three minutes from the break to put the islanders 3-0 up but Ascot, who had won their last seven Isthmian League South Central matches, staged a superb comeback.

Ben Harris made it 3-1 with 15 minutes to go before getting a second two minutes later.

As Ascot continued to build pressure, Khalid Simmo broke Guernsey's hearts with an equaliser in the fifth minute of stoppage time.

The draw moves Guernsey up to third from bottom of the table, nine points from safety.

"It's the standard drama. I'm sure for supporters it's very enjoyable to watch but for us on the sidelines, it's pretty painful," said Gilligan, who is taking charge of the side with Steve Sharman while manager Tony Vance recovers from an accident.

"Coming into it we wouldn't have expected to be 3-0 up at half-time, we were delighted we were," he told BBC Radio Guernsey.

"The guys played really well, followed the game plan, got some fantastic goals and rode our luck a little bit at times.

"Then obviously we came into the second half and we knew they were going to have to make a change.

"They took defenders off and I think they were playing with about five forwards for pretty much the whole of the second half so it was a lot for the boys to deal with.

"It's very disappointing but we can't fault the effort of the team."