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ANOTHER TWO POINTS THROWN AWAY The Canvey fans standing around me this afternoon weren't so much annoyed about the two goal lead and the two points thrown away in the second half today, they were frustrated that they had seen such a talented team play so much good football in the first half but then charge around aimlessly, with so little idea, in the second. Having said that, the run of seven games without defeat still keeps Canvey on track to climb up the table and with other results going their way this afternoon, the gap between the Gulls and the leaders is slowly getting narrower. But if Canvey are to get into the frame before Christmas, they must sort out the dreadful lack of consistency. And they must start turning in better performances at home. Already this season they have lost three home points to Bishop's Stortford and two points apiece to Sutton, Hendon, Braintree and today, Purfleet. A total of 11 points lost at Park Lane. Nobody minds when the team is beaten by better opposition, but fans just can't understand why such a talented and proficient group of players who have so much skill and experience between them just can't get it together for a whole 90 minutes. Winning the first half comfortably and then sitting back just isn't good enough. It was a special afternoon for Steve Ward who was making his 300th appearance for Canvey and it is quite fitting that he was the Fisk Man of the Match. He was always there to thwart the Purfleet attack who, in the second half, had so much of the game. For the first half Canvey looked good and they deserved to go in with a two goal lead. So where did it go wrong? If Purfleet did anything well today, it was to contain the Canvey attack in the opening 45 minutes of the game. Canvey came out all guns blazing and looked very lively from the off. Chris Duffy came close within the first 10 minutes when he sent in a right footed shot from the left side of the penalty area and was unlucky to see it go just past the far post. Unusually, Neil Gregory was not getting all his own way in the air, being closed down by having two men box him in every time a high ball came forward, but this in turn gave more room for Lee Boylan to roam around and he got onto the end of so many forward balls and caused quite a bit of panic in O'Reilly's goal area. Duffers did set up one excellent scoring opportunity for Neil Gregory when he crossed, this time from the right, and found Greggers lurking near the far post. In recent games the top scoring No. 9 has hammered home from this position but today he couldn't quite time his shot in the way he wanted to and O'Reilly was able to make a relatively easy save. Cliff Akurang played well for Purfleet and he always looked dangerous when he got possession, but there was little support for him and his efforts came to little. Purfleet were getting into the Canvey half but this was not the result of clever creative play, it was for more long kick and run, or set pieces - of which there were quite a few. Paul Linger came dangerously close with one free-kick, forcing a good save from Ashley Harrison - playing today instead of regular 'keeper Danny Potter. Perhaps one aspect of Canvey's play that explains, in part, their poor start to the season is that they're still not getting the rub of the green. Lady luck seems to have deserted them and it was frustrating enough for fans, let alone the players, when balls simply refused to bounce in such a way that they might be hit home. But this is football and in this game it's said that you have to make your own luck. Spencer Knight was in today's starting line-up and on 16 minutes he came very close to scoring after John Kennedy beat the 'keeper to a ball that was going over the bye-line. Boylan managed to screw it back to Knight who was waiting near the penalty spot but in a classic example of the ball not bouncing favourably, Knight could only manage to hit the ball over the bar as he was rapidly closed down by a defender. Canvey's break came just on the half-hour. Jamie Southon was seen to push Neil Gregory just on the edge of the Purfleet penalty area. Although he protested his innocence, Mr Steel would have none of it and a direct free-kick was given in a position that was almost as good as a penalty. In a situation reminiscent of last week's Aveley game, Lee Protheroe prepared to take the shot as the referee tried to get the defending wall back the required 12 yds. But it was to no avail. The shot was struck so beautifully it sailed out wide to the right, past the wall and then came back perfectly to go into the net far to the keepers left. A terrific goal and, at last, Canvey in the lead. Canvey's second goal was only a few minutes in coming. Once again it was Neil Gregory who was on the receiving end of some rough stuff, this time a dreadful foul by No. 4 Dean Chandler. Not only did he hack Greggers legs from under him, he appeared to take a run-up in order to do it. Mr Steel was once again on hand to witness the offence and reached for his yellow card as he simultaneously pointed to the spot. Lee Boylan made no mistake with the kick and took his season's goal tally to eight. The first half ended with Canvey ahead on goals, having dominated so much of the first half and running the game at their own pace and tempo. The points looked certain. Half time: Canvey Island 2 Purfleet 0 Every now and again Canvey put in a dreadful first half performance and Manager Jeff King does a miracle team talk in the dressing room and they manage to come good in the second half. Today, it was a total reverse. The second half was a very poor performance indeed by Canvey and Purfleet can consider themselves unlucky that they didn't grab all three points. From running the game, Canvey seemed to become spectators. Gone was the fire and the drive and they appeared to be running on only half power. There are two sorts of performance in football; pro-active and re-active. Canvey's first half performance was the former. They were in control and proceedings ran according to their game plan; they called all the shots. The second half performance was definitely re-active. For so much of the half Canvey were forced to react to the way Purfleet wanted the game to run. On so many occasions the defence and midfield could only make forced clearances and the attack could only chase long balls. It looked as if Canvey's midfield had stayed in the dressing room following the break. Purfleet saw the way things were going and lifted their game accordingly. They fought for every ball by reading the game, whereas Canvey seemed to wait for the ball to come to them. Nobody was really surprised when they pulled a goal back on 51 minutes. They were using the width of the pitch well and danger man Cliff Akurang made a break wide on the right. He managed to get his cross in and there, lurking on the far post, was Lee Allen. He had little difficulty in heading home from relatively short range. Spencer Knight, who was finding it difficult to make any real impression on the game, was substituted by Matt Jones on 56 minutes but he was only on for six minutes before he was booked for a foul, just inside the Canvey half. Dean Chandler took the resulting free-kick and his long ball went deep into the Canvey penalty area. In what appeared to be something of a scramble that included a lot of head tennis and a rebound off the crossbar, it was Paul Linger who made the important connection to head his team level. The two goal advantage was gone and fans feared the worst. Canvey were finding it difficult to get back to anything approaching their usual flowing style of sexy football and Purfleet realised that they game might be theirs for the taking. In the remaining half-hour of the game Canvey were forced to defend and O'Reilly had relatively little to do. Boylan did come close on 76 minutes when he unleashed a powerful drive, only to see it go agonisingly just wide of the far post. Several players tried to get in on the long shot act but there was little to put O'Reilly to the test. In the end, it was Canvey who were relieved to hear the final whistle; Purfleet would have been happy to keep going. A disappointing performance really although the unbeaten run is continued for another game - and on a day when the leaders could only draw at home to Billericay, It's off to Boreham Wood on Monday and then, next Saturday, the big one at Slough. Let's hope Canvey can find the consistency that is costing them so dearly at the moment. Match Report by Merv. Teams
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