Tuesday 25th August, 1998

 Grays Athletic 0 - 1 Canvey Island

Poor old Canvey, it never rains but it pours! Having lost Brian Horne in last Saturday's Maidenhead game, Simon Liddle was carried off tonight with a broken leg that will mean he will miss matches for at least the rest of '98 and probably well into '99. This will be a serious blow to Canvey. Both Simon Liddle and Andy Jones are prolific scorers and their combined efforts last season was the main reason the club won the league championship.

Mickey Desborough replaced the injured Brian Horne in goal and Steve Tilson was back with the No. 7 shirt. The Canvey mid-field should have got a better grip on the game but, sadly, marking was poor and Grays made far too many dangerous runs down both flanks, putting useful crosses into the Canvey goal area.

Tonight's game was a scrappy affair and the 1 - 0 scoreline in Canvey's favour was just about a fair result. The goal came late in the second half from a long throw by Paul Donovan that glanced off the back of Steve Porter's head.

Brookes, the Grays keeper, seemed to be rooted to the spot and even at full stretch, he couldn't stop the ball going into the back of the net.

After Liddle was taken off, half-way through the second half, Andy Jones came on and, just like last Saturday's match, he introduced a fair degree of pace up front. Unfortunately, service from mid-field was poor and with neither crosses nor threaded passes for the forwards to pounce on, goals were bound to be scarce. Scott Lindsey, wearing the No. 11 shirt, had a reasonable game, but Alan Harding would have had a field day with acres of space there for the taking.

With their first league win under their belts, it's mixed feelings for the Canvey fans. Great to be off the mark, but what the future holds without Simon Liddle remains to be seen.