SO  WHICH  ONE  WAS  THE
CONFERENCE  SIDE?

Canvey won through to the second leg of the FA Trophy Semi-Final today against a high-flying Conference side and the truth is, it was impossible to tell which team was in the higher league and which one was in the Ryman Premier.  The lads from 'The Pub Team' gave 110% all afternoon and all credit to them, they were easily the better team.

Both the Chester fans and the Chester manager gave their team the proverbial 'bird' after the game.  The fans jeered as their players left the pitch and the manager hollered when his team was in the dressing room (he could be heard outside on the terraces).  Bottom line is, nobody was impressed with the poor performance and as the afternoon went on it was obvious to everyone, Chester City simply had no attack.  Chances on goal were - 2 to Chester, 10 to Canvey.  Ashley Harrison had an easy afternoon, Wayne Brown had his work cut out.  Had the score been 5 - 0 to Canvey, Chester would not have had grounds for complaint.

Things almost got off to a dramatic start after only 2 minutes when Chris Duffy had his shirt practically ripped off his back as he broke through into the Chester penalty area.  He was clear on goal when he was pulled down in one of the most blatant fouls seen at Park Lane in quite a while.  The referee said, 'No!' and the chance was gone.  But the ref must have been the only person on the island who didn't see it.  It was so obvious that even some of the staff at Somerfields claim to have seen it!  It might easily have resulted in a red card and a penalty.  But the game is full of 'ifs' and 'buts'.  I guess that's what makes it such a fantastic entertainment.  Someone once said that if it was the perfect game then it wouldn't be the perfect game.

Chester's first attempt on goal  forced a good punch-away from Harrison that certainly saved a goal, but that was the sum total of their first-half assault on the home goal.  Meanwhile, at the other end, Chris Duffy was having a superb game and picked up so many balls out to the left that he was giving the visiting defence considerable headaches.  The only blemish on an otherwise perfect performance was some of Duffers' crosses; too often they failed to find their mark.  However, the die was cast and Canvey were demonstrating that they intended to put the visiting defence under considerable pressure.  Which was exactly what they did.

When the goal came it was a good one.  Tilson took a free-kick some 25yds out on the left and, to be frank, the kick was a poor one.  It was easily cleared by Martyn Lancaster but it only fell into the path of Chris Duffy.  Duffers knocked it forward and it landed in the path of Tilly.  At first it looked like he had failed to control the ball as it dropped over his left shoulder but that illusion was soon shattered as the ex-Southend star cracked home a perfect shot that left Brown with little to do, except retrieve the ball from the back of the net.

With Canvey one-nil in the lead, everyone was expecting to see Chester go up a gear and start to get a grip on the game.  I don't think they knew how to.  The game became just a little bit scrappy for the last part of the first half.  There were lots of high balls cleared away in speculative lobs but little true creative football, but it was both teams who were guilty of this, not just the underdogs. In fact, it was still Canvey who were creating the goal-scoring chances and Neil Gregory must be sitting at home still wondering how his 40th minute shot escaped the net and went just 1/2" wide.  He did all the hard work and managed to jinx his way through to the edge of the 6yd box and sent in a beautiful shot, only to see it go just wide.

Chester did manage the odd foray into the Canvey area but they were finding Bods, Chenners and Sex God just a bit too professional for their liking.  Just before the half-time whistle blew there was a goal-line clearance following a Chester free-kick and then, just seconds before the whistle, Ash had to dive to the feet of a Chester forward to save another dangerous situation.  Close, but not close enough.

The last five minutes of the first half was Chester's best time of the whole ninety minutes.  If they were going to snatch one back surely it would come now.  But with a whole league difference between these two sides nobody could understand why the BIG BOYS couldn't pull something out of the bag.  Their own fans were remarkably quiet and were asking, 'Why is our team having such a lean time?'  The Canvey defenders knew the reason.

The second half started and Chester suddenly looked a lot calmer and much more composed.  They dug themselves in and started to look more purposeful in midfield.  Sadly, they couldn't bring the ball from the centre of the park into the danger area and apart from one shot by Andy Porter that was too high, they rarely got a look in at Ash's end of the park.  One wag in the crows was head to say that he lived closer to the Canvey goalmouth than the Chester attack.

In spite of a tighter hold in the middle, Canvey were still the ones causing the scares.  Their breakaways were catching the visitors out every time.  Shots from Steve Parmenter (another good game from Parms) and the odd header from Tilly (a true Captain's game) demonstrated that this game could only have one conclusion.  Eventually it was substitute Wayne Vaughan who sealed the game.  Andy Jones, back in the team after a series of injuries, went off after running himself into the ground.  Wayno came on and immediately the fresh pair of legs started to cause havoc.  It was only his third touch of the game when Canvey's top scorer hit a long, low ball goalward.  Brown had been very confident in the air all afternoon but this low ball, which bobbled as it followed the contour of the ground, had him truly beat.  He couldn't get down to it and the 20yd shot found its way into the net.

The goal cheered the 1200 (mainly Canvey) crowd up no end although it depressed the Chester players.  Their heads dropped and they completely lost any grip that they might have had on the game.  Unbelievably, the Ryman outfit was now taking free shots on goal.  Chance after chance was created and it is astonishing that nothing else went into the net, but it wasn't down to a lack of opportunity, just bad luck.  

Special mention must be made of Mark Stimson who had one of the best games he has had since joining Canvey.  He rarely lost a tackle and when he pushed the ball about, it usually found its mark.  In summary, a brilliant game.

It was two-nil.  Chester had fallen for the sucker punch.  They came to Park Lane thinking that a draw or one-nil defeat would be good enough.  After the game, even some of their players were heard to say, 'Just wait until we get them on a grassy pitch up at our place!'  Ehrmmm.  Haven't we heard that somewhere else this season?

Match Report by Merv. Pictures by Ian.

Weather Conditions:  Bright, sunny day. With a slight breeze.