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THE TIDE HAS TURNED In the bitter cold tonight at Park Lane, both teams stood in silence for one minute in remembrance of the astronauts who died at the weekend and all those people who died on Canvey 50 years ago in the dreadful floods of 1953. The referee blew his whistle, and the footballing floodgates opened. Canvey were in buoyant mood and all evening wave after wave of attacks came into Scott 'Sausages' Tarr's penalty area. Like the sea-wall all those years ago, the visiting defence was breached repeatedly by a Canvey attack that kept surging forward, flooding and swamping the Basingstoke danger area. Get the picture? This was a superb performance and although Basingstoke are not in Northwich Victoria's class, a performance like this last Friday would have made all the difference. Choosing Man of the Match was a very difficult decision tonight, such was the strength of this team performance. Canvey looked solid at the back (another clean sheet), creative in the middle and deadly at the front. Ollie Berquez proved to be a safe and reliable replacement for the injured Neil Gregory and Lee Boylan was on fire. From very early on it was clear that Canvey were going to pile on the pressure. Within the first five minutes they had forced three corners in rapid succession and each one looked more dangerous than the last. Jeff Minton was using the stiff breeze to drop the ball dangerously close to Scott Tarr's line. It was only the acrobatics of Tarr that kept Canvey out. But he was beaten on 9 minutes when Berquez got onto the end of a beautiful Dobinson cross but instead of side-footing the ball into the net, he blasted it way over the bar. But Berquez made no mistake seven minutes later when he got a head to a quality ball, hooked back from the bye-line by Lee Boylan, and he slotted it neatly past the stranded Tarr. It was a good goal and Canvey deserved to be in front. Their passing, their use of space and the quality of their football was far superior to the long ball tactic that Basingstoke were relying on. Only No. 8 Efon Elad was prepared to run at the Canvey defence but without support, his efforts were rather impotent. Perhaps they were missing top goalscorer Craig McAllister who was out with a hamstring injury - much to the chagrin of the numerous scouts who were there to watch him. For long periods of the game Canvey enjoyed entertaining the sparse crowd with some attractive passing football. With the ball going to feet they put together one series of 20 passes, going forward and back and from one flank to the other, before Chris Duffy sliced his shot over the bar from close range. Sausages was in great form and he was called upon to get his team out of trouble on numerous occasions. He always looked safe and it is a pity (although fortunate for Canvey) that he was given so little support by his defence. Canvey fans were miffed that yet another visiting goalkeeper was having the game of his life and it did seem unreal that, with having so much of the play throughout the first half, Canvey were only leading by a single goal. Canvey Island 1 Basingstoke 0 The second half soon promised more of the same. More quality touch and pass football and more one-way traffic. Jeff Minton was being closely marked but still managing to create himself some space. On 50 minutes he managed to break free and found himself in a one-on-one with Tarr. Although Tarr was off his line quickly, Minton placed his shot just wide of the far post. Canvey had to wait another 15 minutes before they got their second goal, but it was well worth the wait. This time it was Lee Boylan who created himself some space and he got onto the end of a long through ball and managed to smash it past the advancing 'keeper from 20 yards out. Two nil up and counting. Almost immediately Canvey got their third. This time it was Chris Duffy's turn to strut his stuff out on the left (why, oh why was he playing on the right last Friday?) and he did well to get in a great cross, straight to the head of Ollie Berquez. Three - nil. Basingstoke were managing to get into the Canvey half occasionally, but their main route tended to be the long, high ball. When the forward line wasn't caught off-side, they were caught out by some timely tackles from either Steve Ward or Ben Chenery. They were tending to look after any balls on the floor, leaving Gavin Cowan to be dominant in the air. By contrast, Canvey built their attacks by passing the ball out of defence and whenever they did use a long ball, it was usually a precision pass out to Kennedy wide on the right or Duffy wide on the left. Canvey's fourth goal was another class piece of football, a through ball coming into the path of Boylan, again lurking on the edge of the visitors' penalty area. This time, instead of blasting the ball, he placed it neatly wide of the keeper, getting an assist off the inside of the far upright to make it four - nil. There might have been even more goals but for an in-form 'keeper and an assistant referee who seemed to have lost the plot entirely. But the tide certainly seems to have turned for Canvey and they find themselves undefeated in the league since 16th November and sitting second in the league, just 7 points behind leaders, Aldershot. Roll on Grays... .Match Report by Merv. Teams
Weather Conditions: Icy cold but dry. What did you think of
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