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FA Cup 3rd Qualifying Round Saturday 2nd October
CANVEY
WIN AT WEMBLEY
No,
not that Wembley, this
one:
After
the terrible weather in the week leading up to this FA Cup qualifying game, few
people thought this game would go ahead. As
it happens it turned into a beautiful, bright day day - just right for football. But
as the teams kicked off at 3 o'clock, where was the Yellow Army?
The Wembley bar was deserted, and so was the stadium.
It seems they came the scenic route, around the North Circular, taking in
some of London's sights. When they
did turn up at Wembley's ground not only did the attendance double but, at last,
there was some noise and atmosphere on the almost deserted terraces. From
the kick off this was a one sided game with Canvey's attack dominating.
Wembley did look useful in the middle of the park, but that is not the
place where goals are scored. In
spite of one or two polished performances by the home team, nobody was able to
set up anything even remotely dangerous at the front.
Canvey, on the other hand, sent in one or two tasty looking efforts
within the first 15 minutes with Jonah and Chris Moore both having shots going
just too high. Most
of Canvey's attacks were built up down the left and Craig Davidson went on some
useful overlapping runs. The
Wembley pitch has quite a slope and Jeff Brazier kept up the pressure from the
other flank, high up on the right. It
was one of Pin-up's great crosses that almost set up a goal on 18 minutes when
both the outstretched boots of Jonah and Parms just failed to connect.
But five minutes later it didn't need a Canvey player to connect, Tony
Readings (Wembley's No. 2) deflected a powerful Pin-up cross straight past his
own keeper and into the back of the net. Canvey
were a deserved 1 - 0 up and hungry for more. It
was so annoying to see yet another referee (Mr Hamilton of Sunbury) give no
protection at all to Steve Parmenter. Parms
has the knack of collecting a ball and then shielding it with his body, before
he sets off on a run. This makes
him a target for being hacked down from behind and today was no exception.
Several such fouls went totally unnoticed by Mr Hamilton, although he was
quick to penalise players who pushed from the side It
took 28 minutes for Wembley to make their first assault on the Canvey goal, but
even then it was a tame header that gave Ashley Harrison no trouble to collect
and clear to safety. The
difference between the two sides was that whenever Wembley moved forward they
never looked like scoring - you just waited for Wardy or Bennett to clear.
Canvey, on the other hand, always looked dangerous.
One dangerous run started with Parms, just on the half hour.
He was brought down from behind, again, but this time the ref. did give a
free kick, just outside the Wembley penalty area.
The kick was taken quickly and the ball fell into the path of Paul
Williams. Willo collected and
turned the ball across the goalmouth where Jonah was rushing in.
He connected and put Canvey into a two goal lead. Half
time Wembley 0, Canvey 2. After
taking half-time refreshments from the slowest tea-bar in the western
hemisphere, (20 minutes wait to get a cup of tea) we saw Wembley looking just a
bit keener to make their mark on the game.
It's not unusual to see Canvey drift a bit after the break and today was
no exception. But hard as the home
team tried to get onto the score sheet, they just didn't have the pace or the
skill to get behind Canvey's defence. Once
again, Ashley Harrison had little to do except collect crosses or, as on only
two occasions, push high lobs over the bar. It
was Keita Karamoko in the home goal who had the most to do, and he did it
exceptionally well. His best save
of the day came when he committed himself to come out after a high ball, but
Jonah got in first and just managed to lob it over him. It was a very skilful acrobatic twist in mid-air that allowed
him to catch the ball just before it disappeared into the net. Parms
had run his heart out, as usual, but not being 100% fit he was eventually replaced
by Carl Bartley on 53’ The big
guy certainly makes his presence known on the pitch and it would be good to see
him teamed up with Parms at some future game.
Not only does he go for the 50/50 balls, he comes out with the ball.
It must be scarey for any keeper to go for a ball with Bartley closing
in. But this is exactly what
Karamoko did, way out on the edge of his area.
There was no foul, but the keeper fell to the ground, stranded off his
line with the ball not safe. Did he
really hurt is ear? Was it really
so bad that the ref. needed to stop the game?
It certainly saved Wembley from a difficult position. Chris
Duffy went off, in favour of Gary Britnell after 59 minutes and it was great to
see CIFC’s 'Senior Citizen' get stuck in. Britts
may not be as fast as he once was, but he has all the guile and cunning to be in
the right place at the right time Goal
No. 3 came on 62 minutes and it came as a result of some determined running by
Jonah. He covered almost the whole
width of the pitch, shaking off defenders as he went. His eventual pass to Bartley wasn’t measured too well and,
in truth, it was something of a hospital pass.
But that didn’t put the big guy off, he went in for the ball, he came
out with the ball and he then smashed the ball into the net.
Two appearances (actually, only a total of some 70 minutes or so) and two
cracking goals. More please. If
Canvey started the second half only in 3rd gear, they finished in
overdrive. With 15 minutes to go
Craig Davidson was substituted by Chris Payne and with fresh legs running up the
wing Karamoko was kept busy and did extremely well to keep the deficit to only 3
goals. A
satisfying game with Canvey now through to meet St Albans in the next round, to
be played at Park Lane on 16th October Match
report by Merv Teams: Wembley
Karamoko, Readings, Harewoods, Walters (off for Keane after 80'),
McGarrell (off for McCarthy after 56'), Lindsay, Bates, Harrak, Levene, Latty
(off for Abraham after 75'), Woodruffe (off for Henderson after 70') Bookings:
Any comments on the
match, would be greatly appreciated.
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