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FLOODLIGHT FAILURE HIGHLIGHT OF THE EVENING In an evening of rather dull football, it was perhaps the failure of the floodlights after 40 minutes play that turned out to be one of the highlights of the evening. Canvey never truly reached their full potential and Purfleet, without a win so far this season, did little to thrill the crowd. What they did do, however, was give Canvey too many scares. For a substantial part of the game it was the club second from bottom who created so many of the chances while the team second from top had to work hard to even look threatening. But there was some excitement from Canvey, usually in the form of Wayne Vaughan who came closest on numerous occasions, but in truth, the ball was in the Purfleet penalty area too rarely for the fans liking. The defence that has conceded 17 goals in the last nine games looked to be well organised and ex-Canvey man Mark Barry was particularly impressive. The only goal of the evening was a good one and rather unusually, it came from central defender Mick Bodley. A free-kick was conceded by Purfleet and it was the delaying tactics of George Georgiou (stopping to tie his bootlace directly in front of the ball) that delayed Canvey and forced them to set up a proper set-piece. The cross came over from the boot of Tilson and the clearance only found its way to the edge of the 18yd box where Bodley tee'd himself up perfectly to hit the ball hard and low, past the helpless Mead and into the back of the net. Canvey fans thought that this might be the opening of the floodgates, but sadly it was not. Canvey pushed the ball about well, but so did Purfleet. Vaughan and Gregory came close, but so did Georgiou and Keeling. It was pretty much even-stevens (if rather dull, all the same). Then Park Lane was plunged into semi-darkness as half the floodlights failed. The referee immediately stopped the game, just as the other half of the lights failed. Even the emergency lighting gave up the ghost and the darkness was complete. Rumour has it that a streaker ran across the field at this point, but we'll never know... After a delay of 13 minutes the game restarted, but if anything it was the visitors who were re-charged and they finished the first half just ahead of Canvey on points, even it they were a goal down. The second half started and still it was Purfleet who were causing the most scares. Harrison was the busiest keeper and the Canvey defence was too often at full stretch. The problem seemed to be that Canvey were playing Purfleet's way instead of their own. Almost every ball that came out of the defence was high. Every clearance was in the air. This suited the visitors perfectly and they were happy to keep the ball airborne. It was when Canvey reverted to their own impressive style - playing the ball low and to feet - that they looked like championship contenders. Sadly, they didn't do this nearly often enough. It was through these passes, on the deck, that Vaughan had at least half a dozen chances created for him. It was because of the clever one-two passing that Sammy Cooper came so close on at least two occasions. It was because of the running into space that Duffy and Kennedy were able to send over some telling crosses. So why, oh why, did Canvey keep reverting to the high ball up the middle? Easy for us to say, standing on the terraces, but it was frustrating to watch all the same. The flashes of brilliance, the opportunity to whitewash Purfleet... instead of which we were witnessing Canvey make their opponents look much better than they really are. However, three points are three points, and if those points take you to top of the table (well, for a day at least) who are we to complain? This is still a terrific team with bags of potential - enough to go all the way, I'm sure. In every campaign there will be blips. Let's hope ours is just about over. The will is there, the team is there, the opportunity is there. Match Report by Merv. Teams Opponents - Steve Mead, John Purdie, Gary Howard, Mark Barry, Jimmy McFarlane, Micky Engwell, Martyn Lawrence, John Keeling, George Georgiou, Paul Coombs, Martin Carthy. Subs: Steve Paskley, David Parsons, Chris Dawson. Weather Conditions: Warm, mild evening. What did you think of
today's match?
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