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Terrific End To Another There are some detractors who have laughed at Canvey as this season has drawn to its conclusion. 'Always the bridesmaid...' and that sort of rubbish. But regulars to Park Lane see the runners-up position, even for the third year running, to be something of an achievement. OK, not as good as coming first, but much better than coming third, or fourth, or fifth... or twenty-fourth. But along the way the Yellow Army have been fed a regular diet of attractive, free-flowing football and a veritable feast of goals. 112 goals in a season, with a goal difference of 56, is no mean achievement, especially if you are 'just a pub team from Essex!' The season came to an exciting end today with Lee Boylan taking his season tally to 47 (not including the game on the park last Tuesday) in an almost total domination of out of sorts Kingstonian. The way this once proud club has been taken apart by the men in suits over the past season is appalling. The way they were taken apart by Canvey was, on the other hand, a joy to watch. K's problems started when the experienced England goalkeeper, Lance Key, had to pull out due to injury. Stand-in Adrian Jones played well, but the sad truth is that he had such a lightweight defence in front of him. There was little answer to the crosses that came over from either Chris Duffy on the left or John Kennedy on the right, nor was their any real resistance to the through balls that kept coming via route number one, courtesy of Jeff Minton, Steve Parmenter and Lee Protheroe. Ollie Berquez came very close within three minutes, being unlucky to see his shot go just wide of Jones, then just wide of the far post. There were other near misses in the opening minutes but the most exciting bit of football so far actually came from Kingstonian's David Clarke who made a terrific solo run, followed by a cracking shot that was just cleared by Ashley Harrison. There then followed a series of corners and raids on the Canvey goal that looked quite dangerous for a while. But it was not to last. Canvey quickly got back into the driving seat and took charge of the game once more. It was top goal scorer Lee Boylan who opened the scoring. It all started with a corner taken by Lee Protheroe out on the left. He took it short to Jeff Minton who sent over a perfect cross that went right through the home defence before finding Boylie, who clipped home from short range. The home fans suddenly stopped singing.
After playing a part in setting up the first two goals, it was only right and proper that Mints got onto the scoresheet himself on the 24th minute. It was Boylan who set him up, pushing a ball through the stretched K's defence, finding him perfectly as he ran into the penalty area. He chose his moment to hammer the ball under the advancing Jones and Canvey found themselves three-nil up. Chris Wheelan was the only really effective Kingstonian defender but he had his work cut out, having so little support around him. Up front, K's other effective player was No. 8 David Clarke but too little was coming out of the midfield for Kingstonian to realistically threaten a tight Canvey defence. Instead, K's were using a mixture of long balls forward and hoping to run on and collect them, or individual runs. Neither tactic looked like causing an upset. Chris Duffy was unlucky when he headed onto the crossbar just before half-time, but for the time being there were to be no more goals, just some good passing football and exciting near misses. Half time Kingstonian 0 Canvey Island 3 The second half was almost a re-run of the first. Kingstonian had a brief spell of threatening Canvey, without ever really taking hold of the game. For the rest of the time it was the visitors who were running things. They were able to switch the ball from one flank to the other, the most dangerous advances coming from JK out on the right. Together with the overlapping Ben Chennery, the service was first class, so many balls being set up for the twin spearheads of Boylie and Ollie.
Ash had only one real save to make in the second half, although he was called upon to take out the usual crosses and corners. By contrast, Jones was kept busy and had to breathe a sigh of relief on the hour when JK hit the crossbar from very close range, following a good cross from the left. There were loads more chances for Canvey, but no more goals. But the football was good with a solid team performance that gave the opposition little opportunity to get fully involved. Ollie almost grabbed one on 67 minutes, following a terrific crack from Mints that the 'keeper couldn't hold. Unfortunately for Berquez, Jones managed to scramble to the loose ball before he could get a toe in. For the last ten minutes Kingstonian were down to ten men, following an incident where substitute Matt Bradford appeared to take an accidental knock on the head which needed attention. Unfortunately the magic sponge was not enough and Bradford appeared to wander off in some sort of confused state of concussion before the coach took his arm and led him to a seat in the dug-out. But by now Kingstonian's fate was already sealed. All in all, a very entertaining game - a four nil win is always terrific. Being runners-up in the Ryman Premier is also terrific. If next season can start off in the way that this one finished, well, who knows??? Match Report by Merv. Pictures by Ian Photos: Click on the right and left arrows above to scroll through the images. Click on any thumbnail to view it in a larger format. There are 18 images to view. If the arrow is dark there are more images to the right or left. Pictures are © Ian C. Walmsley / First Images 2003. Please do not copy these images without permission.
Photos: Click on the right and left arrows above to scroll through the images. Click on any thumbnail to view it in a larger format. There are 18 images to view. If the arrow is dark there are more images to the right or left. Pictures are © Ian C. Walmsley / First Images 2003. Please do not copy these images without permission. Teams
Weather Conditions: Dry and bright. What did you think of
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Goal number two came courtesy of Ollie Berquez. The move
started when the ball came out of midfield and found Jeff Minton. He
pushed it forward to Boylan who, in turn, crossed from the right with a ball
that Ollie met perfectly, converting goal number two with relative ease.
It was Lee Protheroe who set Boylan up for the fourth goal.
In a move similar to Boylan's fourth goal against Enfield last week, the ball
came perfectly out of midfield, over his shoulder as he ran into the penalty
area. But instead of blasting past the keeper, Boylan chipped the stranded
Jones perfectly, the ball landing in the far corner of the net.
