TAME START - CLASSIC FINISH

Three more well deserved points take Canvey back to the top of the Ryman Premier League tonight and, ironically enough, it was championship contenders Farnborough themselves who stood on the touchline at Colston Avenue to witness the event.  Their game was called off and so they took the opportunity to see Canvey finish this game in classic style.

But the start was anything but classic.  The traveling Yellow Army wondered, as the game slowly got under way, whether this was going to be another one of those below par performances against what, on paper at least, looked to be inferior opposition.  Truth is, it was difficult to tell which of these two teams was lying second in the league and which one seventeenth!  No. 10 Dean Thomas always looked dangerous when he ran at goal and No. 9 Jamie Pace was certainly sharp.  

It was Carshalton who opened the scoring on just nine minutes.  They were awarded a free-kick just outside Canvey's area and seemed to make a real performance of a well rehearsed, if rather complicated, set piece.  In the end, the kick was fluffed, but it still managed to get pushed through to Pace who did well to create the room he needed to send in a powerful shot that had Harrison well and truly beaten.

It was a severe blow for Carshalton on 25 minutes when they had Thomas carried off on a stretcher with what looked (and sounded) to be a broken leg.  The incident happened when he went for a 50/50 ball with Harrison who had come out well from his line to clear a long ball into the Canvey danger area.  The game stopped for almost ten minutes and fans worse fears were confirmed when they saw an ambulance arrive at the ground later in the afternoon.

Carshalton were doing enough to keep Canvey out, but the truth is they didn't do enough to ever look really dangerous.  One had the sense that this was the best they could do, but we all knew that Canvey could do so much better.

As the first half was drawing to a rather unexciting close, No. 3 Sean Daley was booked for yet another cynical foul on a Canvey attacker.  His tough defending was certainly helping Carshalton at the back, but his aggression was doing little to help the game in general.  After this latest tackle, Tilson came forward to take the free-kick and it was a long one to the rather crowded far post.  It was Steve Parmenter who climbed higher than anyone else and he managed to hang in the air long enough to head the ball over the entire defence, including goalkeeper Andy Harris, and into the back of the net.

And so the first half finished with one goal apiece.  Carshalton fans considered that their team had done well to be on level terms and at least one fan, as he walked past me, was saying that Canvey weren't much, considering that they were second in the league.  He spoke too soon.

If the first half was dull and unexciting, the second was classic Canvey.  They were rock solid at the back, they were creative in midfield and they were dangerous at the front.  Carshalton really had no answer to the Canvey machine, once it went into top gear.  When it was in overdrive, they were totally lost, none more so that goalkeeper Harris who was guilty of just watching Vaughan's header go over his head for goal number three and failing to hold onto another shot that eventually fell to Tilson who, in turn, set up goal number four for Gregory.

This was a good team performance, but it would be unjust not to mention the superb heading of Neil Gregory.  He got up to every ball aimed his way this afternoon and managed to lay the ball off to other forwards.  

When the ball came out Canvey's midfield, there were two really effective routes.  One was forward down the left to Steve Parmenter who ran and chased everything, the other route was out wide on the right to Peter Smith who had yet another terrific game.  Both routes were dangerous and the home defence had to scramble whichever way it went.

Wayne Vaughan set up Steve Tilson's goal on 57 minutes.  He had a stab at goal himself but his shot was only parried.  Like a terrier he was after the rebound and managed to set it up for Steve Tilson.  Tilly had the ball on his right foot and therefore fans assumed the danger was over, but, uncharacteristically last season's top scorer unleashed an unstoppable shot that was always going into the back of the net.

Seeing that that they were being pushed out of the game, Carshalton tried hard to get back in, but there was no room to get through Canvey's defence, especially when Steve Ward came on for Chris Duffy.  Things were so tight at the back that Ash only made one real save in the second half.  But because Carshalton were putting up a fight, it kept the game interesting and enthralling.  But there was little doubt as to who the eventual winner was going to be.  Even less when, on the hour, Wayne Vaughan grabbed No.3 for the visitors.  Tilly took a free-kick from 30yds out and it was just too easy as the ball fell onto Wayno's head and he simply nodded it over the hapless keeper.

Credit must go to Carshalton's Matt Elverson and Neil Robson who were working so hard trying to keep Canvey out.  They had a job on their hands but their problem was that when they did manage to get the ball forward there was nobody with enough flair, skill or imagination to do very much with it. Even ex-Canvey favourite Simon Liddle failed to impress and certainly only looked like a shadow of his former self.

Goal number four was a just reward for Neil Gregory.  He worked so hard all afternoon but on 74 minutes it was Steve Tilson who did the work for him, sending over a perfect pass that was so beautifully weighted Greggers had very little difficulty in heading home from just 3yds out.  This was just one of a dozen crosses, passes and pushes that Tilly was involved in and this must have been his best game of the season so far.

All in all a good, all-round team performance that started slowly but finished on a high.  Three more valuable points against a team who, until today, had only lost one other game at home.

Match Report by Merv.

Weather Conditions:  Very wet and boggy underfoot.

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