Ryman League Division 1 North
06/04/2007
Canvey Island		1 - 0	Arlesey Town
Davidson (63 pen)		H/T: 0 - 0 Att: 359
Teams
1	Ricky Wiseman		1	Luke Bliss
2	Craig Davidson (c)		2	Andy Reed (Off 71)
3	Colin Wall		3	Gordon Barr
4	Kevin Dobinson		4	Alexis Charambous
5	Dave Kreyling		5	Steve Dogby (Sent Off 89)
6	Clydie Roberts		6	James Gray (Sent Off 89)
7	Lee Jay (Off 78)		7	Wayne Mills
8	Richard Halle		8	Lee Tekell
9	Jay Curran (Sent Off 89)		9	Darren Hay (Off 86, Sent Off 89)
10	Nicky Rugg (Off 55)		10	Ashley Townsend
11	Chris Bourne		11	Kaan Fehmi (Off 86)
Subs			Subs
12	Ian Luck (On 55)		12	Paul Bloss
14	Ryan Edgar		14	Richard Beckett (On 71)
15	Andrew West (On 78)		15	Mathew Clark (On 86)
16	Matt Reade		16	Arin Fehmi (On 86)
17	Glen Johnson		17	Jack Rashid

Match Report

Canvey Island reignited their play off aspirations with a hard fought 1-0 win over Arlesey at Park Lane. In front of a Good Friday crowd of just over 350, Canvey dominated much of a game that ended in controversy when three players were sent off plus Arlesey’s player manager Darren Hay and his assistant in an altercation near the end as tempers boiled over.

At a sunny Park Lane it was Canvey who edged a tight first half. They started brightly looking to take the game to their Bedfordshire opponents. Richard Halle had the first real chance of the game scuffing an effort wide after 6 minutes after a scramble from a corner.

After Canvey’s initial pressure, Arlesey came into the game a little more and Gulls’ keeper Ricky Wiseman had a couple of awkward moments from corners but generally acquitted himself well. With Colin Wall outstanding at the back, Canvey looked solid in defence and ended the half strongly.

Arlesey keeper Luke Bliss made a fine one handed to deny Jay Curran on 32 minutes and then five minutes later some great work by Nicky Rugg saw him play a great pass that released Curran in some space. Curran though fired his shot into the side netting.

Bliss was having a solid game in the Arlesey goal but nearly conceded a real howler right on the stroke of half time when he dropped a routine through ball straight to the feet of Craig Davidson. Luckily the keeper did well to smother the Canvey skipper’s close range effort.

At half time a rather lacklustre game ended 0-0 but in the second half Canvey came into the game more with Chris Bourne and Lee Jay both prominent on the wings. Kevin Dobinson headed an effort over from a Davidson corner but the introduction of Ian Luck for Nicky Rugg who was struggling with an injury on 55 minutes injected some pace and unpredictability into the Canvey attack.

Bliss produced another great save on 57 minutes clawing away Clydie Roberts’ precisely placed shot from the edge of the area away for a corner. Canvey were getting closer to scoring and got their lucky break on 62 minutes. Ian Luck latched on to some indecision by an Arlesey defender and burst through on goal. As he attempted to round Bliss the Arlesey keeper brought him down giving the referee no option but to give a penalty.

Bliss was booked and up stepped Craig Davidson to calmly stroke the ball home into the bottom corner of the net. Canvey were ahead and continued to dominate with Craig Davidson and Richard Halle instigating some of their best moves from midfield.

Kaan Fehmi fired a 25 yard free kick high over the bar for Arlesey but Canvey’s defence of Wall, Dobinson and Dave Kreyling was holding firm with Clydie Roberts a tenacious precense in the midfield.
A great move involving Jay Curran and Chris Bourne nearly provided a second goal but Davidson fired his shot into the side netting from the left hand corner of the penalty area.
As the game drifted towards its’ conclusion, tempers started to get a little heated.

Jay Curran and Steve Dogbe tussled for the ball near the byeline and then got involved in a heated exchange in which fists were raised. This lead to a heated altercation involving most of the 22 players on the field as well as subs from both sides.

Eventually after the referee calmed things down both Curran and Dogbe were sent off and Arlesey’s James Gray was red carded for violent conduct for his part in the altercation. Worse was to follow for Arlesey when both their player manager Darran Hay who had already been substituted and their assistant manager were red carded for arguing with the officials.
It was an incident that soured an otherwise entertaining game but benefited Canvey as they played the remaining minutes with 10 men against Arlesey’s 9.

With the referee adding a huge amount of stoppage time, Canvey had numerous chances to seal the game as they used the extra space created by the dismissals to their advantage. Firstly Halle broke through but Bliss did well to block at his feet as the Canvey midfielder hesitated. Then Ian Luck showed great strength and tenacity to outmuscle a defender and find a bit of space. His shot from inside the area just zipped over the bar. There was still time for Richard Halle to curl a free kick just wide.

So a result that takes Canvey up to 4th place and puts them back on track for the play offs. They travel the short distance to Bridge Avenue on Easter Monday where they will look to get revenge on an AFC Hornchurch side who narrowly beat them late last year and could already be crowned as Ryman Division One North champions.

Oysterfleet Man of the Match

CRAIG DAVIDSON:   Classy display in midfield and showed a cool head from the penalty spot.

Match report by David Powell.