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Tonight was the night the league had been waiting for. Gravesend & Northfleet, the team that has been on form al season and leading the table for most of it. Against Canvey Island, Non-league Giant-killers, now leading the table on goal difference, but still yet to find their pre-Burnley form. At 7:45 Stonebridge Road was packed and the kick-off was delayed 25 minutes as fans were still queuing outside the car park. Around the ground there were fans from Gravesend, Canvey Island, St Albans City, Bedford Town, Grays Athletic, Purfleet, even Southend United just to name a few. The Yellow Army behind me got the ball rolling half an hour before kick-off and didn't stop till 10 minutes after the final whistle! All the songs were sang including "We are top of the league" just to stir things up a bit. Canvey were first onto the pitch and the Yellow Army gave them every ounce of encouragement they had in them. Next out was Gravesend and finally the 4 football league officials, brought in just for tonight's game. Canvey shooting away from the Canvey fans kicked things off, and we only had to wait literally seconds to see that Canvey was well up for tonight's match. Lee Boylan had the first chance of the game when he ran through clear on goal, but he released the ball too early and it drifted wide of the far post. The football being played by both sides was quality and on seven minutes a foul on Chris Duffy led to a free kick by Adam Miller which landed perfectly in the penalty area but was hit just over the cross bar. Canvey were finding their form again, all the players from back to front were putting in 110% Ashley Harrison was very quick and his reflexes were superb. Cheners, Wardy & Buzz at the back didn't let anything slip, the timed their tackles and clearances to the second and no silly fouls were given away. In the middle Stimmo's flicks & tricks caused havoc. Adam Miller's through balls found their man and Steve Tilson's twists & turns made all the difference in getting past the Reds' defence. Up front Lee Boylan was chasing everything across the face of goal and Neil Gregory was getting up to every ball and setting up chances at every opportunity. Gravesend were very quick in the middle their wingers cemented themselves to the touch lines and never pulled in for a second. G&N hoofed the ball up field where the forwards ran onto it but neither could out run Wardy, Cheners or Smithy. Wardy's clearing tonight was the usual quality, out the danger area and over the stand. On nine minutes the one of the Gravesend forwards thought they were clear on goal, but didn't realise that the Ginger Sex God was closing him down. Wardy got his foot to the ball first and cleared the potential threat away. It was difficult in the first half to claim which team had the most possession. Canvey were certainly the more attacking of the two teams but Gravesend were beginning to rule the midfield. With this Canvey became more defensive minded and threw men behind the ball, both Stimson & Miller got back to do some recovery defending. Twenty minutes into the game and a poor clearance by Jamie Turner, was left for Gregory but he reacted to slowly and the G&N defender came across and covered it well. On twenty five minute the Yellow Army had their hearts in their mouths as G&N super striker Jimmy Jackson broke through the Canvey back line and was one-on-one with Ashley Harrison, Jackson shot at goal but Harrison was on fire and moved with lighting quick reactions to block the shot and hold onto it well. There was lots of counter attacking football tonight and after Ashley Harrison pulled off another superb save Canvey immediately began to build an attack of their own. Lee Boylan spotted John Kennedy out wide on the right and he fed the ball through to him, JK was all on his own but the angle was a bit too narrow and his shot was well held by Turner. Then on thirty-two minutes the Yellow Army went wild. Peter Smith pulled off another masterful tackle in the Canvey penalty area and with the ball at his feet he ran, and ran. When he arrived into the Gravesend half he squared it left to Chris Duffy who was given acres of space on the left wing. He skipped past two Gravesend players and ran to the edge of the by-line where he struck a cross along the floor in to the six yard area where the incoming Neil Gregory struck the ball and hammered it into the roof of the net, 1-0 Canvey and the Yellow Army went ballistic! The pressure grew on Gravesend and Canvey with this massive morale boost, began to take the game to their opponents without underestimating them. Two other good chances had but weren't taken came a few minutes before half-time. Neil Gregory picked up the ball just in the Gravesend half and ran with it. But the G&N defence held strong a forced Gregory to move further and further out wide. When he did eventually get the chance to shoot the 'keeper was off his line and Gregory went for the lob, that just bounced wide of the far post. It was almost the same for Lee Boylan two minutes before half-time. He too was forced out wide but he out paced the Gravesend defence and fired a low ball around the 'keeper but it to sailed past the far post. Half-time Gravesend & Northfleet 0 Canvey Island 1. To be honest the second half apart from the last ten minutes was all Gravesend. Gravesend tried to up their game and push forward, and although this tactic left gaps at the back Canvey rarely took full advantage of them. The two G&N wingers were given lots and lots of space on each flank. Gravesend were very good at going forward but they seemed to suffer from what Canvey had been suffering for months and that way the lack of finishing in front of goal. There were plenty of crosses coming in from both directions, but no-one was there to put them away. Canvey threw everybody behind the ball to help with the clearances but one shot led to bit of ping-pong in the penalty area and eventually the chance was wasted over the cross bar. One shot was blocked by Ashley Harrison and Gravesend went for the rebound but it hit the bar and was cleared to the feet of another Gravesend player who struck it into the car-park. From then on Gravesend were piling on the pressure but the Canvey defence held together well. Balls cleared fell to Gravesend players and the Yellow Army were sure that one ball would get through. G&N were trying shot from everywhere but most fell straight to Ashley, were easily cleared or hit some poor Gravesend fan in the bumper crowd behind the goal. Sixty-six minutes and G&N looked to change things as captain Jimmy Jackson was substituted for Simon Parker. Gravesend were still putting the pressure on but for the first time this season I think I can honestly say that nothing troubled the back line. Canvey had begun to suss out the G&N attack formations and were now clearing the danger easier. The clearances fell to Canvey players too with Stimmo, Tilly & Miller all holding the ball up for another Canvey attack, unfortunately for Steve Tilson the brain and willingness is there, but his pace was lacking and with the speed of the G&N midfield tonight Canvey could not take any chances. So on seventy-four minutes Canvey skipper Steve Tilson was replaced with Steve Parmenter. Parms added the pace and the attacking ability to the Canvey midfield and the possession was slowly evening itself out with both teams having good spells of possession football. For the last ten minutes of the game Canvey gained more momentum, JK & Duffy were being found on the wings more and there pace was out classing the G&N midfield all together. Gravesend defenders were panicking at the back and wasting good clearances. Throw ins and corners were being gained from nothing, but unfortunately for Canvey these didn't present any real scoring opportunities. Lee Boylan who had been running around the pitch all night was beginning to tire and three good opportunities were setup but there was no-one to in the danger zone to put them away. JK made a lovely run down the right wing and ghost past two G&N players with ease, he sent in a cross along the face of the six yard box but the tiring Boylan didn't have the energy left in him to keep up and tuck the ball away. The same could be said for Steve Parmenter he also was just that yard too slow to put away another Canvey chance, although Chris Duffy and he had great scoring opportunities blasted over the bar. Although the ref played a few minutes over the Gulls held on to their deserved win and it was the celebrations were like Villa Park all over again. There were cameras flashing everywhere, (I didn't realise Ian could flash so much in public!) Radio & TV crews interviewing Jeff & the management it was like Canvey had already won the league, but there is a long way to go now. With this win under their belts hopefully Canvey will begin to resurrect the "sexy football" of old for a banana skin fixture at Hitchin Town this coming Saturday. Full-time Gravesend & Northfleet 0 Canvey Island 1.
Match Report by Matt & photos by Ian
Teams
Weather Conditions: Dry, clear night. What did you think of
today's match?
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