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BOYLAN HAT-TRICK
KEEPS CANVEY IN THE FAST LANE A hat-trick from the league's top scorer Lee Boylan gave him the match ball today - and extended Canvey's unbeaten league run to 13 games. With 23 goals in the last six games, it looks as if the Ryman Premier League could possibly become a two horse race with Canvey in the frame for the third successive season. If Canvey continue on this sort of form, it could be a very interesting end to the season. Jeff King said before today's game that he was giving every respect to Craig Edwards' Ford United, and rightly so. They have only conceded one goal in their last four games and, being a local derby (Canvey's third on the bounce), they were always going to be up for this one. But in the end it all went Canvey's way in terms of the result, although it was very worrying for manager and fans alike to see Gavin Cowan stretchered off after nine minutes with a suspected fractured leg. Cowan's domination in the air has made such a difference to what started the season as a rather suspect defence and it would be a serious loss if this talented defender were to suffer a serious injury at this stage of the season. From the off today Canvey looked to be firing on all four cylinders with some neat 'pass and move' flowing football. Ford, on the other hand, demonstrated how they were intended to play this one when they kicked off and from the centre circle they launched a 50yd 'hoof' upfield that was simply collected and turned away to safety. In return, Canvey put together several early runs that saw both Neil Gregory and Lee Boylan making early assaults on the rather rotund Jimmy Chapman's goal. Gregor's first attempt on goal was hit just too high and his second, still within the first four minutes, was well blocked by Chapman. Lee Boylan also came close within the opening minutes but just on the fourth minute he found himself rushing into the penalty area to try and get on the end of a high cross in from Jeff Minton. Boylan was pushed to one side in quite a cynical foul by ex-Canvey man Chris Perkins but, when goalkeeper Chapman spilled the ball, the wrong was put right as he happened to spill it right into the path of Boylan. He was now so well placed to hammer home from close range that it would have been impossible to miss. Ford, like so many of Canvey's recent opponents, believed that the way to break down the Canvey defence was to send long balls down the middle. Without Steve Ward (kept out of today's team by a neck injury) they might have stood a chance, but with the height of Gavin Cowan and Man of the Match Micky Bennett being on fire, it was never going to cause too many serious problems. Until Cowan was carried off, that is. On nine minutes he went in for a tackle and, sadly, it looks as if he may have come out of it with a broken his leg. If this is so, he will be a serious loss to Canvey in this important run-in to the season. Craig Davidson came on to replace Cowan and he gave a solid, professional performance throughout the rest of the game. After Cowan was applauded from the pitch the game restarted with a corner and the ball was knocked back quite a distance in a set piece that had No. 2 David Collis hammering it for all he was worth. This is the sort of ball that either hits the corner flag or, with luck, the back of the net. This one hit the net. Nobody in the crowd seemed too worried that Ford were back on level terms as, in truth, they didn't look good enough to win this one. So when Boylan got his second goal on 14 minutes the fans were able to relax a little. Jeff Minton took a corner from the left and it was a superb header from Benno and he almost scored. Alex Fiddes managed to scoop the ball off the line but couldn't clear it further than Boylan who was perfectly placed to convert from close range. Every time Canvey came forward they looked dangerous. Ford sometimes looked dangerous but mostly it just needed Ashley Harrison to come off his line and collect the long balls and, although one or two of his collections looked dramatic, there was rarely any real danger. Half time Canvey 2 Ford 1 Over half-time the fans had chance to reflect on the game so far and most of them were wondering how Canvey had only scored two. They looked far better than that and it wasn't as if the visitors' keeper was that good. Sometimes they all go in, other times you have to work hard at it, but nobody was working harder than Lee Boylan. He was anticipating every ball forward, his control was superb and he was a general thorn in the side of the visiting defence. He always seemed to be in the right place at the right time. Take his third goal today. It was another corner corner from Minton and this time he found the head of Kevin Dobinson. Dobbo nodded the ball on perfectly to the head of Boylan who in turn headed past the outstretched arms of Chapman Canvey were now coming forward all the time and they were always looking good, always looking dangerous. The midfield was dominant, the defence was safe and the attack was playing sexy football. But Ford managed to step their game up by a few degrees and did come close on a couple of occasions. They looked most dangerous when they sent high balls into the 6yd box and on one or two occasions Ash looked just a tad indecisive but then, on the other hand, he pulled off a couple of magical saves. Jeff Minton played his usual game - superb. He is so strong on the ball and refuses to allow any number of players to take it of him - one, two or even three men, he just shrugs them off. Shame that he didn't get onto the scoresheet but he has only himself to blame. Just on the hour he collected a ball on the edge of the Ford penalty area and did well to turn in a tight space, beat another defender, carry the ball around the advancing keeper and then proceed to trip over it, in front of an open goal! Ben Chenery was also on form today and he was so strong at the back but he too almost got onto the scoresheet, rising high to meet a Minton free-kick with his head in a move similar to his most famous goal at Villa Park. This time he was just too high and the ball went just over the bar. But it wasn't entirely one way traffic and John O'Sullivan was unlucky when, in one of Ford's quick raids, he got onto the end of a loose ball and sent in a dangerous looking 25yd shot that hit the crossbar. Ford were a rather physical side and pushed and shoved their way around all afternoon, Some of the referee's decisions were a bit difficult to understand as they were rather inconsistent. McLeud was booked early in the game for a dreadful two-footed tackle on Kevin Dobinson and was lucky not to receive a second yellow for a similar foul on Boylan. Ford were also lucky that they they didn't concede a penalty in the latter moments of the game when Chris Perkins brought Boylan down from behind, well inside the 18yd box. But at the end of the day it was the same referee for both sides - good or bad. As it happened, Canvey didn't need any help from the officials, they did it on their own. Dick Davies referred to the game on BBC Essex as, 'a workmanlike performance.' I thought it was better than that, much better. This was a solid team performance and Canvey were extremely unlucky not to extend their lead (and their goal difference) by a significant amount. It should be a very interesting end to the season. Match Report by Merv Teams
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