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Bennett Does It Again For the second time in four days Micky Bennett came up for a last minute free-kick and nodded home a goal. On Saturday it grabbed a point from the Maidenhead game, tonight it took the game beyond the reach of Hendon who, after scoring themselves in injury time, looked in danger of staging a late comeback. Jeff King's unusual team selection sent out all the messages that this one wasn't terribly important. Some regular players were rested while others who have been out of favour recently were brought back into action. The result was an uneven first half that swung from dull and lacklustre to frantic and energetic. But nobody could have predicted at half-time that the one-all draw would develop into a six goal blockbuster. Hendon were able to run at the Canvey defence and although it is fair to say they had the most shots on goal, almost all of them landed in the car park. Canvey were building their attacks more steadily and there were near misses for both Neil Gregory and Steve Parmenter. It was on 22 minutes when Parms was in a one-on-one with Hook but when the two collided, it was the attacker who came off worse, falling awkwardly on his left ankle and suffering a serious sprain. He was stretchered off and replaced by Scott Forbes. Canvey almost went into the lead on 25 minutes when Scott Forbes sent over a deadly accurate cross from out on the left that found the head of Bertie Brayley, well positioned at the far post. The header was powerful but, unfortunately it landed in the side netting. Bertie was unlucky on another occasion when Neil Gregory put in a speculative overhead cross that landed perfectly for him, just 3yds from the goal line. Perhaps he was so surprised to find himself in such a strong position or the ball, falling from the direction of the floodlights, blinded him, but all he could do was 'back pass' a very weak shot to a relieved David Hook. Lee Protheroe got Canvey off the mark on 32 minutes when he came forward for a free-kick out on the left. The angle was so oblique that David Hook felt that a wall wasn't necessary. He was proved wrong when Proths' in-swinger sailed past the entire defence, and Hook himself, before landing in the far corner of the net. Hendon replied five minutes later when, in some mid-field consusion Ross Johnson lost the ball some 35yds out and Ricci Crace was on hand to collect it and start a goalward run. Seeing Ashley Harrison off his line, he unleashed a powerful blast that dipped perfectly between the retreating Harrison and the crossbar, bringing the visitors back to level terms. Half time Canvey 1 Hendon 1 In the second half Canvey decided to pull out all the stops and Hendon gave them the room in midfield to do just that. Every time Canvey came out of defence with the ball, the centre area of the field seemed to clear a path for the likes of Minton or Protheroe to come forward. From here the ball was played wide to either flank and yet another attack was set up. It was exciting to watch and much more creative than most of the first half tactics. On 57 minutes Bertie Brayley chased a loose ball into Hook's penalty area and managed to set up Neil Gregory with a great cross. With plenty of space to tee himself up, Gregors did what he does best. He leant back and hit an exorcet volley that was unstoppable. Canvey were back in the lead. They might have gone further into the lead over the next ten minutes as both Bertie and Gregors tested the agile keeper with some great shots. Having set one goal up for someone else, Bertie got himself onto the scoresheet when, on 65 minutes he got his head onto the end of a Minton corner from the left. There had been a succession of corners from Canvey but this one was the best of all; it landed perfectly for the No 10 to rise above the defence and send it into the back of the net. Scott Forbes, himself a substitute for the injured Parmenter, had to go off himself on 74 minutes, taking what looked to be a nasty dead-leg. Michael Lee came on and with a switch around that put Duffy out on the left, Lee strutted his stuff up the right - and tasty looking stuff it was, as well. Then injury hit again with Steve Ward pulling up with a groin strain on 85 minutes. Canvey used their third substitute of the night, Micky Bennett, and what good fortune that turned out to be. At 3-1 it looked all over as Hendon were finding it difficult to break down the weakened Canvey defence, but substitute Martin Randall had other thoughts. He managed to breach the Canvey defence in injury time with a good goal and with the score now at 3-2 it looked, for a moment, that Hendon might lift their heads and get back into the battle. But Micky Bennett had other ideas. He came forward in the last seconds of the game to get onto the end of a Protheroe free-kick with a powerful header that had Hook beaten. So Canvey take a two goal advantage to Hendon next Tuesday night but, before then we have the visit on Bedford on Saturday and a score to settle. Match Report by Merv Teams
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