Canvey Island picked up a 1-1 draw against a youthful Crystal Palace side at Park Lane. The referee called a halt to proceedings on 80 minutes because of a combination of the wet and stormy weather that had left the Park Lane pitch very slippery and a bad injury to Palace’s Aaron Dalhouse who suffered a suspected broken arm.

Canvey though more than held their own against a Palace side who at times showed their pace and quality.

Palace started brightly forcing Ricky Wiseman into a decent early save but gradually Canvey began to exert themselves in midfield with Ryan Edgar, Gabriel Fanibuyan and Clydie Roberts all enjoying good games.

It was the hardworking Ian Luck who had the first chance for Canvey after 3 minutes seeing his low driven shot from just inside the area held well by David Wilkinson. They followed this up on 11 minutes with Fanibuyan heading just over from Chris Bourne’s left wing corner.

Canvey took the lead during this decent spell of pressure on 15 minutes. Colin Wall knocked down a left wing free kick into the path of Nicky Rugg who swept the ball home from near the penalty spot.
Palace were rattled and Canvey continued to attack with pace and skill with Leon Gordon this time testing Wilkinson with a powerful drive that the keeper fisted away.

Palace though still looked a quality side at times on the ball and they grabbed an equalising goal on 27 minutes when Ben Kudjodji flicked home a left wing pass. Wiseman did well to get a hand to the ball but couldn’t quite keep the effort out.

Canvey responded well to this though with Nicky Rugg forcing Wilkinson into a decent parry after Fanibuyan had released him down the right. The Eagles though ended the half the better side with Canvey’s defence of Wall, Dave Kreyling and Craig Davidson extended on a few occasions.

Amidou’s surging run down the right flank ended with a powerful shot that flew across goal on 38 minutes and then Ashley Robinson spurned a great chance on 40 minutes when the ball fell to him in an unmarked position on the far post.

Canvey weathered this spell of pressure and with the torrential rain and thunder and lightning making conditions a bit more difficult, they began to edge the game in the second half. Ian Luck might have given them the lead on 63 minutes but took an extra touch when he had a clear sight of goal and could only fire his shot straight at Wilkinson.

Palace after making a couple of changes came at Canvey again and both Colin Wall and Kreyling had to be alert to clear a couple of dangerous crosses. James Grabben may have done better for Palace firing a low shot straight at Wiseman when he got himself into a good position on the right hand corner of the area.

A shot by a Palace forward then struck the post and with the game reaching its’ final ten minutes, Palace’s Aaron Dalhouse fell heavily by the touchline into the barriers after contesting a ball with Canvey sub Daniel Francis. Dalhouse was stretchered off and after discussions with the captains and managers of both teams and with the lightning getting ever nearer the game was called to a rather premature end leaving supporters a little baffled.

Nevertheless this was a good workout for Canvey and after the disappointment of losing to Clacton on Saturday the team did well to bounce back and produce a performance full of skill and passion against a young but highly talented side.

Canvey continue their pre season on Thursday night when they play Croydon Athletic of Ryman One South.

Yellow’s Man of the Match:
Ian Luck:  A hardworking performance and never stopped running all game.

Match Report by David Powell.