Gulls  Put  Swifts  to  Flight

The incessant rain of the past few weeks stayed off just long enough for the hard working Park Lane ground staff to get the pitch playable, even though it was extremely heavy in parts.  But it was the wind, rather than the water on the pitch, that had the greatest effect on today's game.  Kingsley Banks, in the Heybridge goal, failed to get a single kick past the half-way line in the first half, such was the strength of the wind coming off the sea wall.  Canvey used this wind to their advantage in the first half and managed to give just the right weight to their passes, so passing was both accurate and effective.

Three Heybridge players were making a return visit to Park Lane - Chris Payne, Colin Wall and Gary Waters -  and it shows how the Canvey squad has strengthened over the past year or so that probably none of them would get into the present Gulls team.

The first half was one way traffic.  Canvey overcame the difficult conditions and mounted attack after attack on Banks' goal.  John Kennedy came very close after just six minutes when he failed to connect with a cross by a mere whisker.  Then, moments later, it was Andy Jones who outjumped the defence but was unlucky to see his header go just over.

Canvey were winning almost all the 50/50 balls in midfield and they looked sharp.  Too sharp in fact for the linesman who made some rather bizarre off-side decisions, one in particular where he flagged Andy Jones when, in fact, Jonah was at least six feet ON-SIDE behind the nearest of THREE defenders.

It was dependable ol' Jonah, this time on-side (even the myopic linesman had to agree) who took advantage of a mix-up by Heybridge in the middle of the park to go through and score the first goal of the afternoon.  The heavy pitch slowed the ball as Heybridge tried to get the it out of midfield with a short passing game.  Jonah was on hand to steal the ball from the mud/sand and start making his way goalwards.  You don't give players of Andy's quality a chance like that without being punished.  Banks was quickly off his line to narrow the angle, but the shot was low and fierce and went under the 'keepers body and into the back of the net.

With Wayne Vaughan forever waiting to knock King Andy off his throne this season, Canvey's No.1 goal grabber over so many seasons has really stepped his game up recently and all credit to him for rising to the challenge of an exciting, younger striker wanting to take his crown.  So much rubbish has been written on the discussion board recently about the rivalry between these two players, the truth is that this is another example of Canvey's great strength in depth that when one takes a temporary dip in form, the other is there, ready to get back onto the scoresheet.  That's the way it should be if Canvey are going to go the distance this season and finish in the coveted number one position next May.

John Kennedy is another player who is proving to be worth his weight in gold and he gave another 22 carat performance this afternoon.  He always seems a bit timid to take a shot at goal, but his runs and his crosses create so many openings for the Canvey attack.  He almost got himself onto the scoresheet on a couple of occasions this afternoon but some agile goalkeeping and muddy goalmouth scrambles earned him only corners, rather than goals.

Heybridge were finding it difficult to get into this game although one might argue that the wind and conditions really didn't suit them.  They got the ball to the half-way line, but then found that there was no route past the Canvey defence where Steve Ward was, once again, playing 'out of his skin'.  "Another England tackle!" exclaimed one fan, just as Wardy came in with one of his terrific challenges to end another Heybridge assault.

If Peter Smith's goal against Port Vale impressed you, you would have loved Mick Bodley's 40yd stonker on 44 minutes.  With the wind behind him he found himself just on the edge of the centre circle with nobody to pass to.  Instead, he unleashed a superb shot that went into the back of the net at something approaching 100mph.  The keeper tried to get a hand to it, which was brave of him as anyone else in the firing line did the safe thing and ducked.  It was a terrific goal and it gave the Gulls a deserved two-nil lead which they took in with them at half-time.

The second half gave the wind advantage to the visitors.  The conditions were such that today, long, low shots were the order of the day.  Anything in the air became unpredictable and unstable in the swirling wind.  Anything on the deck had a tendency to stick half-way to its destination.  Heybridge never learnt this lesson and, in spite of some good build up play from midfield, they never actually managed to get a dangerous cross into Harrison's area.  Almost every attack ended up rolling along the ground into Ash's safe hands or went high and landed either in the car park or somewhere behind the burger bar.

Andy Jones took a knock in the second half and was replaced by Wayne Vaughan, who looked keen as mustard to get back into form after something of a lean period recently.  He worked particularly well with Chris Duffy on 65 minutes when the two of them mounted an assault down the left which ended up with a great shot by Duffers, which the keeper only just managed to palm away.  Unfortunately, there was nobody near to convert and so the moment was lost.

With 20 minutes to go, Heybridge gradually got back into the game, or at least their midfield did.  Whereas 50/50 balls had been going in Canvey's favour, it was now the visitors who were enjoying more possession.  Canvey were looking uncomfortable in the middle and any attack they did mount was looking like extremely hard work.  Heybridge might have made more impression but, truth is, there was nobody up front who could turn on the magic.  They made three substitutions but this had minimal effect where it really counts.  Ashley didn't have a save to make except for a near miss from a 75th minute free-kick taken by Sean Caton which went just a few inches wide.

On the other hand Canvey brought on Mark Stimson for Adam Tanner after 78 minutes and this had the effect of putting Canvey back into the driving seat.  Midfield tightened up by the odd degree and rather than defend their lead, Canvey were looking to add to the score.  And that's exactly what they did on 86 minutes when more good work on the left involving Duffers and Greggers resulted in a low hard cross that eventually fell at Steve Tilson's feet.  With the visiting defence at sixes and sevens, Tilly was able to guide the ball into the net to give the championship contenders a three-nil lead.

It was a well deserved lead and was a realistic reflection of the way the game had gone.  Heybridge might consider that they had a good spell in the middle of the second half, but they never realistically capitalized on the conditions and never put Canvey under real pressure.  Yes, the conditions were dire, but they were dire for both teams and it was the home team who adapted best.

With a backlog of fixtures to come, Canvey have demonstrated that they have strength in all departments and competitions for most places is fierce.  This has had the effect of making everyone look over their shoulder at the subs bench and step their game up accordingly.  Well done to Jeff and Glen for bringing this about.

The day went to the Gulls.  The Swifts couldn't handle the conditions as well as their opponents and, eventually, they conceded the three points and can have very little to complain about.

Match Report by Merv. Pictures by Ian.

Weather Conditions: Dull, overcast with heavy showers .

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