CANVEY  ON  TOP  FORM

If this was preparation for the Port Vale game, it looked good to me.  Enfield seem to be shadow of their former selves and in general, not at all impressive.  They made the mistake of giving Canvey far too much room up front, of having few ideas in front of goal themselves and relying too much on humping big balls upfield in the hope that someone would find them.

The 7:45 kick-off eventually got under way at 8:22, the visitors apparently not realising that the M25 tends to get busy on week nights!  But delayed start or not, Canvey looked hungry from the off and Neil Gregory was very unlucky when just three minutes into the game he chested a long ball down with superb skill, but was just a tad slow in teeing up his shot and Pat Jennings Jnr. managed to close him down and the ball was cleared to safety.

It came as something of a shock when Enfield went into the lead on five minutes and came about from an uncharacteristic mistake from Peter Smith.  The pitch was extremely wet and in spite of a massive effort from the ground staff, there were one or two areas where the ball just would not bounce.  One such area was just in front of Smithy and his attempted clearance went completely the wrong way - right into the path of Kevin Rattray who made no mistake in putting it away.

Home fans were confident that Enfield wouldn't hold this lead for long.  Canvey were looking to get onto the scoresheet and it was Neil Gregory again who came close when his tasty looking shot hit the crossbar before being cleared to safety.  A few minutes later it was John Kennedy who forced a save from Jennings, this time the ball going for a corner.

Although he was guilty of dropping the slippery ball a couple of times, Jennings pulled off at least four saves worthy of his illustrious namesake.  But he stood no chance with Canvey's first goal.  It was all started by the hardworking Wayne Vaughan who broke through out on the left flank.  He started to move in goalwards when he saw Tilson just on the edge of the box with plenty of space.  There is nobody hits a volley like Tilly under these circumstances and when the inch-perfect pass came from Wayno, Tilly hit it with strength and accuracy and all Jennings could do was stand by and watch it rocket into the back of the net.

Canvey lost Steve Parmenter half way through the half when he hobbled off with a  nasty gash on his knee, following a collision with No 4 Grant Cooper.  It was an unfortunate injury for Parms although it did allow fans to get a first glimpse of newcomer Adam Miller.

Enfield looked good enough in midfield, but it was up front that they seemed to lack any imagination.  They managed to get into Canvey's penalty area on a couple of occasions, but the truth is they rarely looked like scoring.  With one notable exception!  No 10 Julian Capone sent in a terrific volley on 35 minutes and it drew an spectacular save from Ashley Harrison.  

By way of reply, Canvey put together what must rate as the best goal scored at Park Lane in a long, long time.  A series of threaded passes brought the ball closer and closer to the visitors' goal, the final one splitting the defence in half and allowing Vaughan to squeeze through and hit it hard and low.  The fans were now extremely happy and the 2 - 1 scoreline was a much more realistic reflection of the game.  Enfield's big back four moved up too easily, leaving gaping holes at the back.  The likes of Kennedy and Vaughan just love these opportunities and were enjoying themselves in the empty spaces.

The second half started with a change of shirt for referee Mr Ross.  His black top was continually confused with Enfield's navy blue strip throughout  the first half and so he found a white top with a number 5 on the back during the interval.  The change of top didn't stop several misunderstanding between the officials and on more than one occasion flags were waved, only to be ignored by the man in the middle.

Canvey started the second half the way they had finished the first - in top gear.  Both Vaughan and Tilson forced good saves from Jennings but whenever Enfield did break away, the Gulls showed that they are as good at the back as they are up front.  Peter Smith was pure magic, Peter Smith, after his initial fluff was solid as a rock and Mick Bodley never put a foot wrong.

Vaughan grabbed his second goal on 56 minutes and this one was almost as good as his first.  This time it was a powerful volley from the edge of the box that swung wide of the keeper before bending inside the near upright.

Some of the passing from Canvey was superb.  They were able to swing from one side to the other with ease and once again it was the deft flick-on from the head of Greggers that caused untold damage in and around the Enfield penalty area.  Chances were being set up with terrific regularity and although the finishing was usually erratic, fans felt that there was at least one more goal to come.

It might have come for Vaughan when he was denied his hat-trick on 68 minutes.  He chipped the advancing keeper with ease after he was set up on the edge of the penalty area, but it was just a bit too high and the ball went over the bar.

It might have come from Miller on 70 minutes when he put the ball into the net, only to be flagged for off-side.  Or for Tilson seconds later when his in-swinging corner was dropped by Jennings and was agonisingly close to going over the line.  Mr Ross, who officiated at Cambridge last Tuesday, was not being so generous tonight although this time he was well placed to see that the ball didn't quite go over.

Andy Jones came on with ten minutes to go and Steve Clark soon followed.  They took it in turns to take shots at goal but it wasn't until the last seconds of the game that Jonah's shot was blocked, before falling nicely for Clark who was lurking on the edge of the box.  He unleashed a powerful shot and made it 4 - 1.

A good game that Canvey controlled, even if they didn't dominate.  All good preparation for the big one in 12 days time.

Match Report by Merv.

Weather Conditions: Dry, cold evening with a waterlogged pitch.

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