A GAME OF FOUR HALVES!

This was exciting football, yet it was dreadful.  It was delightful, but at the same time it was dire.  It had a bit of everything.  When Canvey were 3:0 in front someone in front of me said, "It's like shelling peas!"  Later, the same person said, "We couldn't score in a brothel!"

The first half saw Canvey go into a three goal lead and we were good.  Not the best we've ever been but certainly good enough.  In the second half it was the worst of the performances against Leyton Pennant, Burnham Ramblers and Burgess Hill all rolled into one.  Then we had extra time and Canvey came back to looking half respectable.  Then, in the final quarter of the game, we once again gained control and took the game out of Bishops Stortford's reach.

The scoring started very early - just over 90 seconds - when Parmenter and Brazier combined well on the left wing and a cross came over that was just aching to be headed in.  And that's exactly what Steve Clark did to put Canvey into an early lead.

But Stortford showed that they were going to be no push-over.  Vinnie John and Scott Williams were quite prepared to run at the Canvey defence and the rather unusual line-up of Kennedy, Davidson and King had their work cut out keeping things together at the back.

Individually Canvey had lots of talent on the field, but the combination of players was experimental and as a consequence, much of the play failed to gel together.  However, the squad system that we have seen put to great effect this season shows the terrific strength we now have in depth.  Great to see players like Britts still going strong and others, like Paul King, just waiting in the wings to be called into the team on a more permanent basis.

It was on 15 minutes when Steve Parmenter was again involved in the build-up play, this time he started the move on the left, laid it off then picked it up again on the right, then sent over an inch perfect cross that Geoff Brazier connected with beautifully, the keeper nowhere in sight.

In spite of the relative ease with which Canvey were running the game, BS still wanted some of the action and never stopped running.  They knocked the ball about very well but fans thought they would fall apart once Canvey scored number three.  It was Jonah who scored the third header of the game on 22 mins. this time the build up coming from Craig Davidson, Steve Tilson and that man again, Steve Parmenter.

But Stortford were not about to fall apart.  Quite the opposite, in fact.  Being three down seemed to spur them on and they kept constant pressure on the Canvey goal where Ashley was having his busiest game for a long time.  On more than one occasion it would be fair to say that BS had Canvey on the ropes.

By now the football was end to end stuff with the home side winning a series of corners at one end while the visitors hit the woodwork (thanks to a well taken Tilson free-kick) at the other.  Eventually Stortford's efforts were rewarded when Justin Bowen sent in a powerful ball that Harrison just couldn't hold and the ball ended up in the net.

As the teams walked out for the second half, Canvey fans were confident that the 3:1 lead was enough.  The confidence was short-lived.  Within four minutes Trevor Paul scored a terrific second goal and Glen Southam scored a third.  Unbelievably, the teams were level.  But that wasn't the worst.  At this point Canvey seemed to fall apart.  The home attack started to dismantle Canvey's defence, especially when John, Paul or Williams ran for goal.  Nobody seemed to have an answer for this direct approach.  In midfield we couldn't create anything and up front we seemed to be playing a different game altogether.

Fans could only watch in disbelief as Canvey came under the cosh.  Vaughan coming on for Cooper  and Gregory for Jones didn't seem to lift things.  The truth is Canvey were lucky to hold on and eventually, the whistle came to take us into extra time.

It was here that the game changed yet again.  Although the first session of extra time saw no goals, it did see a new determination from Canvey and one suspected that if they could maintain this level of football, they might just sneak it.

As the second half of extra time started we saw Canvey come back to something approaching their old form.  Stortford were still battling away and refusing to give up, but when Clark put away goal number four one sensed that we were going to win.  The goal lifted everyone's spirits, so much so that goal number five was almost inevitable.

When it came it was both a relief and a blessing.  It was well taken by Jeff Brazier, his second in the game, and was just reward for a good all-round performance from Pin-Up.

Did Canvey deserve the win?  On balance I thought so.  But what do I know?

Match Report by Merv.

Weather Conditions: Warm, dry evening.

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