|
|||||||||
|
| ||||||||||
|
CANVEY PUT THE WIND Canvey are through to the next round of the Trophy following a windswept game at Grantham where, although the weather did its best to spoil things, Canvey rose to the occasion and took the game (eventually) by quite an impressive margin. The terrible conditions were identical for both sides but, with the wind behind them in the first half, the Gingerbreads could only convert one of their many chances. Their one:nil half-time lead was never going to be enough and before the second half was 10 minutes old the question wasn't, 'Who will win? but rather, 'By how many will Canvey win...?' There was a good atmosphere in the South Kesteven Stadium, in spite of the athletics track that puts the fans so far away from the action. Canvey tend not to do so well in this kind of environment. Remember Harlow? Remeber Croydon? The running track was wide and parked on it were two brand new Nissan cars, courtesy of the club sponsor. Buzz was the first to put a dent in a door with a good clearance within the first ten seconds of the game. We knew that the wind would cause problems, but it did have the effect of drying out the pitch and, a few sandy areas apart, the playing surface was generally good. Ball control was very difficult throughout the game, but kicking into the prevailing easterly wind it was almost impossible. With the wind behind them Grantham dominated the first half and they mounted attack after attack in their assault on Ashley Harrison's goal. His goalkicks rarely got as far as the halfway line and putting the ball into the air was tantamount to putting it back into the danger area. Grantham ran with the ball well and they were so quick on picking up second balls - Canvey certainly had their work cut out. But in spite of this it is was the Islanders who had the first opportunity on goal when John Kennedy was put through by Adam Miller early on, but his shot was only half hit and the wind forced it to spin wide. Harrison, back after his recent suspension, did well to keep a dangerous looking header from No. 9 Dave Taylor out. It was in the air that Grantham looked most dangerous, using the weather conditions to sweep balls deep into the 6yd box. This was especially so from corners and set-piece situations. Danny George came close from a 15th minute corner and Chris Duffy was forced to head off his own line a few moments later when an in-swinging corner beat the visiting 'keeper. Clearing the ball from defence was something of a nightmare for Canvey as they just couldn't find a route out of their own half. Each time they tried the ball seemed to come back and it needed some big clearances from Steve Ward to keep the slate clean. Ben Chenery was superb at the back and never put a foot wrong all afternoon. Canvey were being forced to play a totally defensive game, and it didn't suit them one little bit. Dave Taylor eventually got the ball into the net after 33 minutes of trying. Dave Gilbert took a needlessly conceded free-kick from out on the left which found the head of Gary Bull. Bull managed to knock the ball back to Lee Marshall who shot well, forcing a good save from Harrison. Unfortunately Harrison couldn't hold onto the ball and it fell almost perfectly for Dave Taylor to hit home from 10 yds. Grantham had managed to go into the lead against the Trophy holders and their fans sensed that this might be a sign of great things to come. In response to the goal, Canvey started to get a grip on things and there followed their best spell of the game so far. They were learning to keep the ball on the deck and to carry it forward, rather than trying to lump it. Adam Miller's close ball control was superb and Micky Bennett never missed an opportunity to run towards goal. Added to this were some superb touches by Lee Boylan and at last, Grantham 'keeper Ziccardi, found himself with some work to do. At this point it was Canvey's finishing that was letting them down, but this could be excused due to the unfriendly weather conditions. Half Time Grantham Town 1 Canvey Island 0 Everybody knew that this would be a different game in the second half. It would be Grantham's turn to try and beat the weather conditions and Canvey could look forward to some help from the elements, rather than the hindrance they endured so far. The visiting Yellow Army only had to wait for one minute so see the way the game might develop. Chris Duffy was sent through into the left hand side of the penalty area and, with goal in his sights, he did very well but was unlucky to see his shot end up partly under the 'keeper and partly under a defender, Was there a handball? The crowd thought so but the referee was not convinced. Canvey forced a succession of corners with Adam Miller taking them from the left and Steve Parmenter taking them from the right. Each time the ball was hit long and high and each time it swirled right into the danger area just in front of goal. Ziccardi did his best but it was obvious that one of these balls would go in before too long. Canvey forced three corners in as many minutes and on the 48th Canvey did appear to score, only for the referee to award a free-kick for an apparent foul on a Grantham defender. Grantham were now struggling against the conditions and they found less success in this second half than Canvey did in the first. They were now feeling the frustrations that the visitors had been suffering. Canvey, on the other hand, were enjoying themselves. Duffy was looking good on his runs and Kennedy was getting in some shooting practice. But the goal that got it all started came from Lee Boylan in the 61st minute. Adam Miller took another dangerous looking corner from the left and Duffy did well to knock the ball back to Boylan. Canvey top scorer, with 22 goals before today's game. notched up another one with relative ease and the game was back on level terms. In spite of coming close on several occasions, fans had to wait another ten minutes for the next goal, a superb effort by Duffy. In a similar situation to his near-miss early on, he collected a Miller pass and ran into the box from out on the left. This time he hit the ball as soon as the 'keeper came off his line and managed to get it between his legs and into the net. A good goal and the Islanders in the lead - at last. This must have been too much for the home fans as, much to the surprise of the Yellow Army, significant numbers of them started walking out! Grantham were putting up a very spirited performance and the players deserved better support than this. Canvey seem to be making a habit of scoring screaming goals from 20+yds recently. There was the goal of the season by Adam Miller at Purfleet in the last round, Neil Lampton's superb volley at Braintree on Tuesday and today Neil Gregory hit a fantastic right footed ball from 20yds to take the score to 3 - 1 in the 71st minute. The game was, by now, in the bag. Lee Boylan almost made it a brace when he lobbed Ziccardi on 82 minutes but with the 'keeper stranded and the defenders unable to get back to clear, the ball hit the upright and bounced away to safety. But Boylan didn't give up. He waited just one minute longer before he got onto the end of a Gregory pass, just inside the Grantham penalty area and hit home from 10yds. Canvey fans were delighted to see Steve Tilson come on, with ten minutes to go. He immediately got 'stuck in' and put in a couple of strong challenges with no obvious ill effects. This is encouraging and, with Mick Bodley's appearance last Tuesday at Braintree, there appears to be some light at the end of Canvey's long injury hit tunnel. Grantham had been finding things very difficult in this half and they must have been regretting not taking more advantage of the favourable conditions they had in the first half. With the wind they were able to score once. Against it they only managed to get into the Canvey penalty area once. Although they were without Adrian Speed, Rick Ranshaw and Stuart Wilson, they really had no answer to the finishing power of the Ryman favourites. They fought hard and they never gave up but at the end of the day their inability to cope with the weather conditions and the way they allowed Canvey to run the second half of the game cost them dearly. For Canvey it was a long drive home and eager anticipation to see which opponent will come out of the hat next Monday afternoon. Match
Report by Merv. Teams
Weather Conditions: Very, very windy to the point that the wind dominated the game.
Chris Duffy scores
The players congratulate him What did you think of
today's match?
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
