CANVEY THROUGH WITH EASE

Canvey are through to the next round of the FA Trophy, and they did it in style.  Admittedly the first half was just a bit lackluster, but the second half more than made up for it.  In his Evening Echo report on Friday night, Dick Marshall warned against the threat of Lawrence Yaku and the high scoring Northwood outfit.  Dick was almost right, but perhaps he overlooked the superb defending skills of Steve Ward.  In division one Yaku may be formidable, but at this level he looked rather ordinary.  He did have a golden scoring opportunity just a few minutes before the half-time whistle, but his finishing was extremely poor.  He did rather better in the 82nd minute when he grabbed a consolation goal for the visitors.

Canvey went into an early lead through Steve Tilson.  Mark Stimson sent in a terrific cross from deep on the right and it found Tilly just on the edge of the penalty area.  So impressive was the way he stopped the ball, controlled it on the turn and then unleashed an unstoppable shot, the Northwood defence seemed to stand by and watch in admiration.  It was a great goal by any standard and Tilly's 12th of the season.

Unfortunately, whenever Canvey go into an early lead, they tend to ease up a little. This is what they did today and for the rest of the first half the football from both sides was mediocre to say the least.  Micky Bennett limped off after 11 minutes with what looked to be a groin strain and had to be replaced by Mick Bodley, forcing Canvey into a re-shuffle at the back.  Although Northwood have scored 46 goals this season, they rarely looked like increasing their tally.  There was some good interplay between Yaku and Dave Nolan and Ashley Harrison was forced to make a dramatic save on 12 minutes from a wicked shot by Andy Cook, but that was as close as it got.  At the other end Canvey failed to take advantage of Northwood's decidedly wobbly looking defence and the score stayed at one - nil.

Northwood had the chance to grab an equaliser just a minute before the half-time whistle when an uncharacteristic mix-up in the Canvey defence let Lawrence Yaku through for a one-on-one with Ashley Harrison.  Unfortunately for the visitors his finish was both limp and well wide.

The second half started with a much more dynamic feel about it.  Andy Jones had been kept out of things by the rather large, but effective No. 5 Rene Street in the first half.  In the second he lost his marker and, with the half just three minutes old, was desperately unlucky to see his shot hit the crossbar and rebound to safety.  The Canvey attack was putting together some good pieces, with plenty of one touch football that was beginning to look quite effective.

More one touch football, this time involving Jonah and John Kennedy, set up a wonderful cross for Neil Gregory who just failed to connect by a whisker.  Greggers seemed to be enjoying himself and always looked dangerous.  He was in the thick of the action in the 52nd minute when it seemed that all the Canvey players were involved in an attack on Riordan's goal, but nobody could put in the finishing touch.  The ball was stopped by the keeper, it hit outflung legs and it was cleared off the line by Andy Cook, but it wouldn't go in.  Not until John Kennedy picked it up on the edge of the box and, after a moments hesitation, he unleashed a terrific shot that went straight to the back of the net.  The rout had started.

Never far from the action, Neil Gregory got himself onto the scoresheet on 55 minutes.  Jonah had been bundled off the ball out on the right by Rene Street.  The resulting free-kick, taken by Steve Tilson, was knocked into the middle by Mick Bodley and it was easy picking for Greggers, who was perfectly placed.  Three-nil and more to come?  Fans were confident.

They didn't have to wait long and it was that man Neil Gregory again.  This time he was put through with a long ball from Andy Jones and he made space for himself so that he had only the keeper to beat.  His first attempt was stopped by Riordan but the keeper didn't collect the ball cleanly and so Greggers got a second bite at the cherry, this time making no mistake at all.  Four-nil and counting.

To be four down might have been disheartening for Northwood but this is obviously a team of character.  Never once did they throw in the towel.  They continued to chase everything and obviously wanted to add some more goals to their impressive tally so far this season.  At the back, the rotund figure of Street was always in evidence and No. 3 Gary Williams played extremely well.  But the defence as a whole was never good enough to stop the Canvey goal-scoring machine - not when they were in this frame of mind!

Even Craig Davidson nearly got on the scoresheet.  A poor clearance from Riordan found him 30yds out and, noticing the keeper was off his line, he sent in a great lob but was unlucky to see it bend in the wind and go just wide.  Then another defensive blunder, this time by the usually reliable Cook, saw a terrible back-pass (intended for the keeper) land in the path of Gregory.  Unfortunately, Riordan was so quick off his line and the angle narrowed so effectively that Greggers couldn't convert and Northwood had yet another let-off.

At this point of the game, Canvey always looked dangerous on the break and it took some desperate defending by the visitors to keep them at bay.  Some defending was over-zealous and Short was guilty when he brought John Kennedy down in the penalty area on 77 minutes.  He was booked for his pains but, more importantly, conceded a penalty.  With Steve Tilson substituted just a few minutes earlier, it fell to Andy Jones to step up to the spot, but seasoned campaigners like Jonah rarely make mistakes and the fans felt jubilant when he made it five-nil.

As the game drew to its conclusion, credit must go to Northwood who continued to chase everything and keep the Canvey defence on their toes.  Consolation fell to Yaku when he was put through on 82 minutes.  Steve Ward, who gave another of his 'Ginger Sex God' performances, pulled up appealing for off-side but was ignored by the officials and Yaku ran on to beat Ash in a one-on-one situation.  It was now 5-1 with eight minutes to go, but this one was certainly in the bag.

Next, it's back to the league which, most fans would agree, is certainly the most important competition.  But a trip to Wembley (well, Villa Park actually) would definitely be the icing on the cake.

Match Report by Merv.

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