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FA Cup 4th Qualifying round - REPLAY Monday 18th October 1999
THE BUBBLE BURSTS For small clubs like Canvey, the aspiration isn't to go to Wembley Stadium in the FA Cup Final – that's for the big boys like Man. Utd. Or West Ham. The aspiration at this level is to get far enough into the competition to draw a league club, just like the famous Brighton match of four years ago. After the fantastic fight-back against St Albans on Saturday, the Yellow Army turned up in Hertfordshire tonight hoping to see their team move one step closer to such a match. Sadly, it wasn't to be. The bubble burst in a ten minute spell just after the half-time break. For the first half Canvey were terrific. They dominated the game and anybody who stood behind Ashley Harrison's goal saw very little of the ball – it was all down at the other end. Whenever St Albans did make a break, the Gull's defence was in no mood to let anything pass, in spite of being without star defender Steve Ward who was unavailable tonight. They might have looked a bit panicky last Saturday, but tonight they looked super-cool. The mid-field was in fighting mood too and was setting up plenty of chances for the forwards. Particularly impressive up-front was Steve Parmenter who chased everything and came so close on more than one occasion. For some of the attacks he teamed up with Tilly, on others he was alongside Jonah. But it wasn't just Parms who was looking for goals. Chris Payne was sending some lovely crosses over from the left and Chris Duffy and Steve Tilson were setting chances up through the middle. Canvey fans waited patiently for the scoring to open but had to be satisfied with a succession of corners, near misses and saves from the talented Tony Roberts in the St Albans' goal. There were one or two appeals for penalties but the referee was having none of it, not until the 27th minute when Andy Jones was upended as he ran through, building another dangerous looking attack. Tilly took the spot-kick and send Robert's the wrong way to put Canvey into a well deserved lead. It was quite ironic that Steve Parmenter was booked later in the half for a rather tame looking foul when both he and Jonah had been pushed, pulled and kicked off the ball all night long, particularly by St Albans' No. 4 Ashley Vickers. Eventually, it was John Pollard who was shown the yellow card for a nasty foul on Parms, quickly followed by a booking for Martin Randall, although what for, nobody is certain. The ball was out of play and it was while the goal-kick was being taken that Randall must have said something to the ref. who then booked him. The first half finished at one-nil to Canvey and the prospect of more goals to come. After all, they had had 70% of the play. The second half was quite a different story. Perhaps Canvey's biggest problem so far this season has been their inconsistency. For the first ten minutes St Albans took over control and looked to be very comfortable in front of their noisy fans. This was a disastrous ten minutes for Canvey as St Albans scored one goal on 48 minutes and then another on 51 minutes. The first goal, scored by Randall, must be the softest goal he has ever scored. Davidson failed to clear a ball that was sent out wide on the right and a low cross was sent into the goal area. For some reason Bennett stepped over the ball, leaving it to run into Randall's path and handing him the golden opportunity to side-foot it easily into an empty goal. Then St Albans were awarded a free-kick on the edge of the Canvey penalty area after Bennett was booked for a foul. The kick by Steve Clark was strong, hard and low and Harrison stood no chance as it sailed into the goal. This was the boost that the home team needed, not to mention their fans. The game then became a little scrappy. For St Albans, Clark went into the referees book and Ashley Vickers soon joined him. More importantly, Canvey began to lose their shape. St Albans seemed to be winning everything, both in the air and on the floor. But most importantly, they were winning the 50/50 balls and they were able to keep the pressure up. Eventually, Canvey did come back into the game and the match became much more even, but St Albans were in the lead and they were prepared to sit back and leave it that way. Unlike the first game at Park Lane, Canvey couldn't find the extra bit of fight that was needed to grab the equaliser. They did try and with goal line clearances, another penalty appeal turned down, off-side decisions going against them and near misses aplenty, fans thought that perhaps it might just happen. Then, on 76 minutes, it almost did. Tilly hit a scorching 20 yard shot that beat the goalkeeper easily but thudded against the upright and bounced back to safety. Paul Williams went off after 73 minutes in favour of Carl Bartley, but even the Big Guy couldn't find the net. Then, when Parms took a knock just five minutes from time Gary Britnell came on. Could he do it? Well, he almost got a head to a corner, but it wasn't Canvey's night. The whistle went and Canvey found themselves out of the FA Cup for another year. It was a disappointing night for Canvey, especially as they demonstrated that they have the ability to beat teams like St Albans. But after dominating the first half and holding their own for much of the second, they lost the match in one terrible 10 minute spell. Ah well, that's football. Match Report by Merv Teams St Albans: Roberts, Hunter, James, Vickers, Harvey, Rooney, Pollard, Butler, Clark, Randall (Duru after 69'), McMenamin. Subs not used: Turner, McCormack, Meredith, Piper. Bookings Attendance
678 To read Merv's review of the 1998/99 season, click here
Any comments on the
match, would be greatly appreciated.
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