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ANOTHER WIN Canvey have come so far in such a short time. Take today for instance; playing for us we had England's captain, another four international players representing England, Ireland, Wales and Finland plus, we left another international on the bench! As one disgruntled Braintree supporter was heard to mumble as we filed out of Cressing Road, "...moan... moan... of course they bloody won... look at the bloody squad they've got... moan... moan." This wasn't Canvey's easiest game of the season and, like many local derby games, it was a hard fought affair with both teams giving it their best shot. Talking to several Braintree fans around me they were convinced that this was the Iron's best performances for several weeks. They certainly gave Canvey a game but, when the final whistle went (after 95 minutes for some inexplicable reason), I think everybody had to agree, Canvey were the better side and they showed their class. The result was a fair reflection of the game. Canvey almost went into an early lead when John Kennedy did well to hook a great cross over from the bye-line after only 12 minutes. The cross found Lee Boylan but although he got half a connection, it wasn't quite enough and reserve goalkeeper Simon Morden was on hand to save. There followed several other near misses for Canvey and it soon became apparent that Braintree were playing with a 4 - 1 - 4 - 1 formation with only one player up front. To get the ball to him they resorted on so many occasions to a big 'hoof' upfield that rarely gave Chenners or Wardy any real problem. As early as 20 minutes it was obvious that the home side was happy to slow things down and possibly settle in for a nil-nil draw. Morden was taking an absolute age to take goal kicks and any free-kicks from the back were used as a time wasting ploy. But with so many men prepared to defend, it was relatively easy for Canvey to come forward into the danger area but, it must be said, they were finding it difficult to get shots in on target. Ashley Harrison did well to get behind a Braintree free-kick taken out on the right on 38 minutes and it was a powerful shot, Ash was forced to give away a corner. This was a signal to the home side to step their game up just a tad and there followed a spell when they started to put Canvey under a fair degree of pressure. There was a whole succession of corners and it took some good defending and a couple of excellent saves to keep Braintree out. Eventually, on 40 minutes, the Canvey defence collapsed and Braintree were in when Sam Keevil picked up a loose ball coming across the area and hammered it home. Braintree in the lead. But it didn't take too long before Canvey pulled the scores back to level. It was a controversial goal that both Jeff Minton and Lee Boylan argued over for the credit, whilst Braintree remonstrated with the referee that it shouldn't be allowed at all. Minton took a free-kick from 25yds out and he hit a good strong ball that was going into the top right hand corner of the net. Morden did well to get two hands to it. Morden himself was on his line when he collected the ball but instead of pushing the it away for a corner, he pulled the ball into his chest as he fell to the floor. By bringing the ball into his chest he actually took the ball over the line with him. Perhaps realising that the ball was already over he quickly released it, but it went straight onto the boot of Boylan who was closing in fast. Boylan hammered home but, by now, the linesman had already signalled a goal. The goal was eventually credited to Minton (quite rightly) but it was a shame to see how the Braintree players surrounded the linesman, jostling, arguing and disputing. David Culverhouse was especially lucky that he wasn't dismissed when he pushed the referee on the shoulders. Rather pointless really. When was the last time a referee or a linesman changed their decision on the basis of the antics of the players on the receiving end of a dubious decision? But plenty of players have walked as a result of getting involved in such a futile discussion. Half time Braintree 1 Canvey 1 From the off it was Canvey into full flow and they bombarded Morden's goal. Just like the first half, Boylan was unlucky not to get onto the scoresheet early when he raced ex-Canvey man Gary Waters for a loose ball that was dropping into the penalty area. Boylan won the race and managed to get a toe to the ball but didn't get quite enough control to avoid lifting it just over the bar. It was now Canvey's turn to win a succession of corners and each one came closer and closer. Morden was not at all happy taking out the high balls and it looked odds-on that Canvey would eventually convert one of Minton's well placed corners. It was on 53 minutes when Neil Gregory rose above everybody else to meet Minton's cross as it dropped nicely into the 6yd box. He nodded home a beautiful goal that put Canvey back into the lead. From this point on there never seemed any doubt as to who would be taking the points from this encounter. Canvey grew stronger and stronger and when Oliver Blackwell scored a similar goal to Gregory's on 63 minutes it didn't seem to matter. Canvey were now cooking on gas. But Blackwell's equaliser was almost disallowed and, in fact, it should have been. The header came as a result of a corner that was taken about a yard outside of the quadrant marking around the corner flag. Even before the kick was taken the linesman on the dug-out side raised his flag and there it stayed, long after the ball went into the net. Maybe only a technicality, but if a corner is taken from the wrong position, surely it must be taken again? The referee went to talk to his assistant but appeared to 'bottle out' and allowed the goal to stand. Rules are rules and surely they must be applied with consistency? It mattered not. Braintree might have been back on level terms but with their lack of ideas of how to build up a realistic attack (long balls don't work when you are playing against a defence as skilful as Canvey's) and Canvey's domination of the midfield, surely it was only a matter of time and how many. Ben Chenery almost made it three on 67 minutes but, being a defender and not a striker, we have to forgive the way he totally fluffed a 22 carat opportunity, just two yards out from an empty goal line. There were lots of other opportunities as Braintree were very suspect to balls being played down either flank. The crosses kept coming over and were kept out mainly by the home defence packing the penalty area with bodies, rather than any special skill or clever defensive play. If Morden gave away Braintree's first goal, he was equally culpable for Canvey's third. Jeff Minton got fed up of trying to thread balls through the crowded defence for either Boylan or Gregory and so he unleashed a shot of his own, from 20yds out, that Morden could only push over his own head and into the top corner of the net. Poor goalkeeping or an unstoppable shot? It doesn't matter, Canvey were now in front and the keeper was on a hat-trick. For the last 10 minutes of the game (well, 15 actually as the referee was enjoying it so much he couldn't bear to stop it) Braintree all but fell apart. Canvey were pushing the ball around with ease and it was actually quite easy for Boylan to get in a powerful shot on 86 minutes that Morden couldn't hold. He parried the ball into the air and it fell nicely for Neil Gregory to thump home from close range. Four goals with the chance of even more to come. The fifth goal almost came deep into injury time (but there were no injuries in the second half!) when John Kennedy hit the post off a Chris Duffy cross. How he missed is still a mystery but in the end, it didn't matter. This was another emphatic win on a day when rivals Aldershot didn't have a game, Hendon could only manage a draw and St Albans were beaten at home by Bedford. Things are looking good. Match Report by Merv Teams
Weather Conditions: Dry and bright but very cold. What did you think of
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