Does Pride Go Before A Fall?

Many visiting fans must have thought that this would be a walkover for the Conference team from Stevenage.  They came to Park Lane with good pedigree and, let's face it, on paper at least, the game was there for the taking.

Walkover it wasn't.  Easy?  Anything but.  Canvey more than held their own and at the end of the day any neutral in the ground would have to admit that they just about edged it.  They defended well, they held the midfield for long spells and generally kept the visiting keeper, Paul Wilkerson, very busy.  If anyone was going to grab the winner in the second half, the smart money would have to be on Canvey.

The atmosphere at Park Lane was terrific, the town end filled with the red and white of the visiting fans.  Some of them arrived as early as 9:30am and they gave their team a great ovation as they came out onto the pitch.  The Yellow Army was a little slow to get warmed up but, at the final whistle, it was the home fans who had most to sing about.

It started well and it was quite obvious from early on that these two teams were very evenly matched.  Adrian Clark sent in a dangerous looking cross for the visitors after just 3 minutes that Ashley Harrison couldn't hold cleanly at the first attempt, although he did eventually manage to collect it and it was an early let-off for Canvey.  But that was not a sign of things to come, in fact quite the opposite.  It was Wilkerson who had the most difficulty holding onto the ball and all afternoon his handling looked suspect.

Wayne Vaughan got Canvey's goal after just 6 minutes.  Canvey sent through a speculative long ball that didn't look too dangerous when it fell to No. 2 John Hamshire.  Under no pressure at all he nodded it back to his keeper but hadn't seen Wayno lurking, just waiting for a mistake.  Quick as a flash Canvey's top scorer chased the backpass and managed to get there before the advancing Wilkerson.  He lobbed it over the keeper, now hopelessly stranded in no man's land, and watched it drop into the empty net.

It felt good to be one ahead at such an early stage of the game and suddenly the visiting fans fell almost silent.  Neil Illman tried to lift both his team's and his fans' spirits when he tried a Wayne Vaughan type lob at the other end just four minutes later.  On this occasion, however, Harrison's agility was too good and he pulled off a spectacular save, getting back to his line and managing to get his fingertips to the ball just as it looked certain to drop into the net.

There were thrills and spills at both ends but Steve Tilson can count himself unlucky when he put a perfect ball across the face of an empty Stevenage goalmouth but there was nobody on hand to give it nudge into the goal.  Tilly created many chances as the game went on, as well has having one or two shots of his own.

With the game just 19 minutes old Boro were awarded a free-kick some 30yds out.  The ball came over into the penalty area and appeared to just skim the head of No. 10 Neil Illman.  Whether Steve Ward also got a touch remains a mystery, but it gave the ball enough of a deflection to send it past Harrison and suddenly we were back to even-stevens.

The goal gave a boost to the Boro fans and they suddenly came back to life.  This, in turn, put some sparkle back into the Boro players and they started to look a lot more settled.  They were able to swing the ball from one side of the park to the other and they were looking quite dangerous.  Neil Illman kept popping up everywhere and was certainly a danger man.  It needed some good defending from Canvey to keep him and his team at bay, but this is where the superb Ginger Sex God came into his own.  His defensive clearances and timely tackles were simply out of this world.  He was not going to let anything or anyone pass.

With 10 minutes to go until half-time Canvey came back into the game once more.  Wayne Vaughan was unlucky on several occasions to be put through but he just couldn't jinx his way past the keeper to add to his goal tally. But it wasn't just Vaughan.  Almost everyone was taking a shot at goal and the visitors were under considerable pressure with at least one ball cleared off the line and several corners almost finding their mark.  The defence seemed to be all at sixes and sevens but, unfortunately, Canvey couldn't find a way of punishing them for their lapses.  The first half finished at one - all.

The second half was more of the same, sadly without any more goals.  Wayne Vaughan was chasing everything and the ever impressive John Kennedy created havoc whenever he got the ball out on the right.  Sadly, he didn't get enough of the ball, it seemed to go more often out to the left.  But here it was Chris Duffy who was chasing everything and sending over some terrific crosses.  Neil Gregory's heading was magic, but nobody could find the much needed second goal.

The game was played in strong and physical fashion with plenty of hustle and bustle, but credit must go to the match officials (Mr Stroud the referee and his two assistants Mr O'Keefe and Mr King) who kept a lid on things and generally kept the game going.  There was a lot at stake and the game flowed well.

Stevenage were obviously not playing at their best and in the second half they just couldn't make it happen.  They obviously have a lot of talent and it is because of this they they managed to contain Canvey, but for so much of the game it was Canvey who were looking to be top dogs, Stevenage holding on.  

What let Canvey down, if anything, was their poor distribution of the ball.  Rarely have I seen so many passes failing to find their mark.  This was especially so from defence where, on too many occasions, balls were lobbed upfield only to land at red and white feet and from there being sent back again.  If Canvey play the same style of game at Monday's replay, but can find their usual impeccable  passing skills, they stand a good chance of  beating their Conference cousins.  On today's showing they showed themselves to be skillful and resourceful enough to do it.

Match Report by Merv. Pictures by Ian. (more pictures below...)

Weather Conditions:  Bright, cold with one or two snow flurries

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