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A Brave Performance The question pondered by many Yellow Army members is, "If Canvey were to go up into the Conference League, would they be able to hold their own?" The answer, based on the performance at Huish Park last night must be a resounding YES. OK, they lost the game and OK they are now out of the FA Trophy, but on the plus side, the team on the park gained a lot of friends and earned a lot of respect for the attractive, flowing style of football that they played. On more than one occasion the Yeovil fans had their hearts in their mouths. From the first whistle Canvey decided to go for it. They came off their starting blocks and made a bee-line for Chris Weale's goal. Within the first five minutes they had won as many corners. In spite of the sand/mud pitch, they pushed the ball about well, played it to feet and made good use of the width of the pitch. John Kennedy was enjoying himself and was taunting the Yeovil defence whenever he got the ball out on the right. It's a pity that Canvey were unable to convert in those opening minutes as this was probably their most dangerous period of the game. The Yeovil defence was forced to play the long, high ball out of defence; sometimes up into the Canvey half; sometimes over the main stand. The long 'hoof' that was getting Yeovil out of danger was probably the home side's strength and gradually, as the game went on, they refined the long ball style to such an extent that they began making a whole series of dangerous looking attacks. Certainly under these playing conditions it was the right move to make and combined with a very fast and speedy forward line, they started to break open a few cracks at the back and had the Canvey defence retreating on the double. The off-side trap was brought into play but, with their speed, Yeovil were finding chinks in the yellow armour and this forced a couple of Harrison saves and even a Steve Ward goal-line clearance. It must be said that Yeovil were ably assisted in their attempts to avoid being caught off-side by the assistant referee who procrastinated over every decision he was asked to make to the point that the referee came close to offering him the choice of ask the audience, phone a friend or 50/50 even over throw-in decisions. Adam Stansfield was the most dangerous looking of the Yeovil attack. He looked menacing from early on and in the 17th minute, in spite of appearing to be off-side, took the ball round Ashley Harrison and put it into the net from a narrow angle. McIndoe, who gave a late assist, was given the credit for the goal by the PA announcer but Stansfield can feel aggrieved if he is not credited. Canvey might also feel aggrieved that the goal stood, but that's all about spilt milk and crying. Canvey couldn't/wouldn't change their style to the conditions and continued to play the sexy football that has stood them in good stead for all this season. It looked good but it wasn't reaping the same rewards as the home side's long ball tactic which, on this surface, was probably the better option. It didn't look too pretty but rather like the Gravesend game at Park Lane earlier on, it was a style of play that forced Canvey back and onto the defensive on several occasions. In spite of having 60% of the play, they had 0% of the goals and, although it's a bitter lesson, we have all learnt that there are no points for looking pretty. Ashley Harrison pulled off at least one miraculous save just before half-time to deny Skiverton a goal, the Canvey 'keeper diving full length across his goal to push a header wide of the far post. Just a pity that some of Ash's kicking couldn't match his acrobatic shot stopping. But it wasn't just Harrison who was keeping his side in the game, Weale was asked to make one or two stops himself, one worthy of mention involved Mark Stimson on 44' when he put in a powerful drive that Weale could only parry. Stimo managed to get a second bite of the cherry but this time his lob was just too high. Half time: Yeovil Town 1 Canvey Island 0 Canvey's 150 travelling fans looked a little lost on the steep, open terracing behind the goal, but they were very enthusiastic and gave a good account of themselves. However, Yeovil came out in the second half and were kicking into their home Westland Stand and gradually the atmosphere in the stadium came to life. The Green Army really got going and this lifted the team. The team, now playing up a gear, responded to the partisan support and it was like watching a different game. Within seconds of the restart Ash was forced to save at the feet of substitute Carl Alford and the game was certainly getting faster and hotter. At the other end skipper Steve Tilson sent over a dangerous corner kick that found the head of Mark Stimson and this forced a desperate goal-line clearance, the ball almost falling for the waiting Gregory, but it was cleared in the nick of time. This was the first of a series of assaults on Weale's goal that involved Tilson but sadly, nothing that led to an equalising goal. Both Tilson and Stimson were on top form in midfield but, like other Canvey games recently, the build-up work from behind couldn't be converted at the front. Yeovil continued with their direct approach and it needed some desperate defending by Wardy, Bods and Buzz to keep the home raiders at bay. Some of the defending got a bit over-zealous and within a 20 spell during the second half the referee had to ask for the autographs of the Canvey back three. The third booking, Peter Smith, was a disaster for Canvey as it followed the up-ending of dangerman Adam Stansfield just inside the 18yd box. In spite of his protestations, plus those of Steve Ward, both the referee and his linesman were determined. The ref ignored the pair of them and continued to point to the spot. From the resulting penalty kick Nicholas Crittenden put Yeovil into a two goal lead and created a psychological barrier that was going to be difficult for Canvey to overcome. Canvey decided to make a fight of it and brought on Paul Cobb in place of a tired looking Mick Bodley who had given his all at the back. Tilson dropped back and Cobby started making a nuisance of himself alongside Neil Gregory up front. The tenacity of the Canvey substitute paid off when, in the 86th minute he was involved in a terrific piece of skilful football that started on the half-way line. Almost all the Canvey team was involved in an exhibition piece of passing and use of space. It culminated in a threaded through-ball from Gregory for Cobby to run onto and slot past the hapless Weale. Suddenly, Canvey were back in the game. A position that had the home fans worried. But Yeovil kept their cool at the back and decided that the best form of defence was attack and so for the last six minutes of the game it was electric with near misses at both ends. Sadly, the home team kept Canvey out and go through to the next round with a tough away fixture at Northwich Victoria. On the day they were probably the best team, particularly on the poor playing surface. But although Canvey left the field with their heads rather low, they have no need to be ashamed of the terrific display of neat, crisp football that will, no doubt, entertain many in the Conference next year. Match Report by Merv. Teams
Weather Conditions: Dry, mild evening. Heavy pitch with a lot of sand. What did you think of
today's match?
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