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CANVEY GOOD... Just like the home game against Purfleet earlier this season, Canvey allowed a superb first half performance, where they made their opponents look mediocre, to evaporate away, together with the points. Today it was a case of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. In the first half they were superb and totally ran the game. It was a big surprise to be one - nil down after 13 minutes but they did not allow this to put them off their agreed agenda; to throw everything possible at O'Reilly's goal for the entire 45 minutes. It all started so well. What went wrong? Whatever Colin McBride tells his players at half time, Jeff King ought to get the recipe and bottle it. For the second time this term Purfleet have come out for a second half against Canvey and have totally changed the direction of the game. In a BBC Essex interview after the game McBride claims he told his players that they could do it, being fitter and stronger than Canvey! This hasn't been said against a Canvey side for a long, long time. The real question is, did Purfleet lift their game by several degrees and start calling the shots? Or did Canvey lower theirs and run out of ideas? The contrast between the two halves was marked and, for the visiting fans who thought they were in for a treat, such a big disappointment. In past seasons the Canvey defence has been rock solid but it was painful today to watch defenders pull back and back and allow talented players like Jon Keeling and Paul Linger run directly at them. Result, a 2 -1 lead wasted and substituted for a 3 -2 defeat. Canvey were playing in their changed strip this afternoon and there was some amusement amongst the fans when they first caught sight of the 'bloomers' that Canvey call shorts. For the players of shorter stature like Lee Boylan and John Kennedy the situation looked even worse. Nat Lofthouse and Stanley Matthews never looked like this. But it didn't seem to put the two players off - both played exceptionally well. From the very start Canvey threw everything at Alex O'Reilly and Neil Gregory looked on top form when he hit a volley after just 7 minutes that went only just wide. Good service was coming over from Scott Forbes, supported by JK on the right and from Matt Jones on the left. Through the middle Jeff Minton was running on overdrive and he proved that he could hold onto the ball and distribute it well. So it was very much against the run of play when, on 13 minutes, Jon Keeling broke down the left, ran at the Canvey defence until he was placed to send over a cross, direct to the head of Paul Linger who was just on the edge of the 6yd box. Linger got behind the ball and sent it into the back of the net, giving Purfleet a surprise lead. Going into deficit might have unnerved Canvey but, instead, they notched their game up a gear and mounted assault after assault on Purfleet. Shots came in from everywhere, headers were going just over and long shots got blocked or saved. At some point fans knew Purfleet's bubble would burst and O'Reilly's goal would be breached. One person near me commented, "How can we be playing all this good football and still be losing?" Someone else asked, "How come Purfleet have only had one shot and yet they're in the lead?" The breakthrough came on 37 minutes. In one of their many raids, Canvey forced a corner on the right and the set-piece came over directly towards O'Reilly. The usually safe keeper was impeded by one of his own players and managed not only to drop the ball, but to drop it at the feet of Neil Gregory, lurking on the edge of the 6yd box. Greggers wasted no time in blasting home and, at last, Canvey were off the starting blocks. It took only one minute for Canvey to grab goal number two. This time it was Lee Boylan who did the honours when he headed home a Minton cross from the left. It was a great goal and it put Canvey into a well deserved lead. The question now was, how many would Canvey win by? The way the first half was going, the answer might have been at least four or five. They were playing well and the ball was coming out from defence via all sorts of creative routes. The midfield was in total control and Purfleet had little or no answer to Canvey's dominance. Half time Purfleet 1 Canvey 2 As soon as the second half kicked off, it was clear that something was wrong. Canvey looked to have lost their edge and Purfleet looked to be taking control. Now it was their turn to create all the pressure and it was Canvey's turn to defend. Purfleet forced three corners in as many minutes plus they were unlucky when Canvey were forced to make a goal line clearance from what looked like a certain Neil Gregory own-goal. Things continued to go badly for Canvey and soon it was six corners in seven minutes and even more narrow escapes for Canvey. The pressure kept coming and for 20 minutes they defended for all they were worth. There were more goal line clearances, a rebound off the crossbar and a 22 carat gold save from Ashley Harrison. The difference was that Purfleet were now running directly at Canvey defenders, especially players like Linger, Keeling and Akurang. What were Canvey doing? They were backing off and backing off. It looked dangerous and, on 66 minutes it proved disastrous. Jon Keeling ran at Canvey and they moved back, giving him a golden opportunity to fire home, high into the corner of the net. This time the goal was deserved, but at least Canvey had enough time to take back the lead. Canvey ought to have taken back the lead but the impetus seemed to be gone. The sharpness that had made all the difference in the first half was now missing. Boylan kept chasing and JK kept battling, but it wasn't coming together. Whereas in the first half Canvey were winning all the second balls and all the 50/50 chances, now they were winning few of them. Steve Parmenter came on for Matt Jones but, just like the game against Harrow, he was playing too deep to make any real difference. Later in the game Bertie Brayley came of for Lee Boylan but again, like the Harrow game, he wasn't able to make any significant difference. But chances were at least being made. Surely there was another goal somewhere? There was another goal to come, but it was a disaster for Canvey that it was Jon Keeling who grabbed it. On 85 minutes, in a re-run of his 66th minute effort, he was given far too much room as he broke through and, with a shot (or was it a cross?) he sent the ball over Ashley's head and into the far top corner of the net. Canvey fought very hard for the remaining minutes of the game but Purfleet held out well and denied Canvey any real scoring chances. Purfleet had one shot in the first half from which they scored even though they were under the cosh for all 45 minutes. Then they had a 20 minute spell in the second half when they looked good but the rest of the half was fairly even. But they came out of it with all three points which puts them in third place and keeps them in the frame for promotion. For Canvey, their disappointing second half performance means that the hill just got a bit steeper. Match Report by Merv. Teams
Weather Conditions: Dry, mild afternoon. What did you think of
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