THREE POINTS, BUT ONLY JUST

Last season Canvey went to Dulwich and, although they were easily the better team, came away empty handed.  There was no reward for having 80% of the play, for being the most inventive team or for playing the better football.  Today was almost a different story.  Canvey ran the first half of the game but then came very close to falling apart in the second.  Dulwich appeared to have Canvey on the ropes for long spells and came so close to getting a draw.  But at the end of the day, Canvey were the better team and came away with the points.  Perhaps life is fair, after all.

The first half was a joy to watch.  And most joyous of all was the performance of young Wayne Vaughan.  A tad greedy at times, but then all good strikers are.  He opened the scoring on 3 minutes when he collected a long ball from Ashley Harrison (who says he can't kick?) and, finding himself in plenty of space, looked up to notice keeper Les Cleevely off his line.  Domino Pizza might be the club sponsors, but they don't like chips at Dulwich, do they???

With a one-nil lead, Canvey dug themselves in and dominated the play.  It was mostly one-way traffic with great performances today from Peter Smith at the back, Mark Stimson (as usual) in the middle and Neil Gregory at the front.  The play from Canvey was intelligent and entertaining.  Dulwich did have their moments - overlapping runs from No.2 Dean Palmer caused one or two scares, especially when his crosses went to the far post.

But at the other end things were looking dangerous every time Canvey went on the rampage.  Steve Parmenter was sending over all kinds of dangerous balls and Neil Gregory was always effective in the air.  But it was that man Vaughan who looked the most menacing.  On 18 minutes he again found himself in a whole heap of space, this time it was Mark Stimson who sent a long ball through.  He collected the ball, composed himself and sent in the most beautiful of shots that left Cleevely for lost.

The shots on Cleevely's goal came thick and fast as Canvey got more and more into the driving seat.  They were forcing Dulwich into making mistakes and when you are defending well, running the midfield and in control up front, the points are bound to come your way.  Almost all the raids on goal involved Vaughan somewhere or other.  He did so much running around and was well fed well by the heading skills of Neil Gregory.

At the other end Matt Fowler and Declan Perkins were trying to bring Dulwich back into the game when they combined to show some creative play, but they were thwarted by some agile saves from the ever dependable Ashley Harrison.

The first half came to an end with the better team in the lead  But it was not to last.  Although the second half started well enough for Canvey, they gradually lost confidence, lost shape and lost control.  As the second half unfolded the home team started to push the ball about with increasing confidence.  True Canvey still made the odd foray into the Dulwich penalty area - near misses from the head of Neil Gregory, Duffy hitting the post, Vaughan shooting just wide - but they made the mistake of sitting back and relaxing.  Dulwich took this as a cue to step their game up a gear and they started to look impressive.  Perhaps the explanation is that Canvey play football well and this encourages their opponents to lift their game in response?  The result was a good game of football.

If only Canvey could score a third goal.  But it was not to be.  It was Matt Fowler who scored, a nice header that had Harrison well and truly beaten.  The whole thing was avoidable.  Stimson committed a foul in midfield, threw the ball away and was booked.  From the resulting free-kick the ball was floated into the Canvey 6yd box and Fowler came in, unmarked, to head home.

Then, just minutes later, Stimson received his second yellow card and was sent off.  Canvey had to re-organise themselves but Dulwich spotted that the way through to goal was down their left side.  Ball after ball found itself through and cross after cross went over to the far post - always dangerous for Canvey.

But class always shows - eventually.  Canvey took the game beyond doubt on 78 minutes and Wayne Vaughan was the man on the scoresheet once again.  The move started with a superb run by Peter Smith.  He picked the ball up in defence and decided to go it alone.  He moved further and further up the right wing and chose his moment to send a cross over to Vaughan who was alone and looking dangerous in the middle.  Vaughan collected the inch-perfect pass, took one touch to set himself up and then unleashed the most perfect shot that went high to the keepers left and into the back of the net.  One of the sweetest goals ever seen.

Glen Pennyfather made a tactical substitution at this point and brought on Clark and Cooper for Vaughan and Gregory.  The fresh legs helped Canvey to climb back on top and from here on in the result was rather predictable.  So much so that when Chin grabbed the second for Dulwich, Canvey fans knew that they only had to sit out the remaining seven minutes and the points would be theirs.

Shame that the game ended in such a scrappy way with silly fouls and clumsy play, but on balance Canvey were worth their three points.  This was not the Dulwich team of previous seasons.  Gone was the bite and the determination.  Yes, they did well for long spells of the second half but had they come out from the off and played in that fashion, it might well have been a different story.  As it was Canvey took their chances and converted more of their opportunities.  That, after all, is what wins you the points.

Match Report by Merv. Pictures by Ian.

Weather Conditions: Dry, bright and warm.

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