Match Report

Canvey Island were unceremoniously dumped out of the FA Cup after an appalling 5-1 defeat to Dunstable Town at Park Lane in the First Qualifying Round of the competition.

Canvey lead 1-0 at half time but the game turned when Gabriel Fanibuyan was sent off for violent conduct on 55 minutes and the British Gas Business League Midlands Division One side went on to score an emphatic and deserved win.

Canvey were second best for much of this game and their opponents despite their lowly league position battled hard and made it difficult for a Gulls’ side that looked lethargic and well off the pace for much of the game.

Dunstable served a warning after three minutes that they were not there to make up the numbers when Stuart Strange fired over after finding space in the box.

David Lee responded for Canvey by curling a free kick from 25 yards just wide of the post on 11 minutes but Canvey were struggling to gain any momentum in the game and Jay Curran was often an isolated figure up front.

They allowed Dunstable far too much space at times especially on the right wing where Jonathon Barnett on occasions was left completely unmarked.

On the left wing, Moses Oyeleye had an outstanding match and his pace and skill was a constant irritation to the Canvey defence.

Dunstable suffered a blow when centre back Danny Ryan was stretchered off after 27 minutes with what seemed like a serious injury. This seemed to knock Dunstable out of their stride a little and Canvey started to gain more possession and test the Dunstable defence.

They still failed to test Paul Taylor in the Dunstable goal but a moment of magic from Fanibuyan on 35 minutes gave Canvey the lead.

The ball was worked to Fanibuyan on the left hand side of the area and he cut inside a defender before firing home past Taylor at his near post from just inside the penalty area.

The goal should have settled Canvey down and given them confidence but still they were sloppy in their defending and distribution and Dunstable came close to equalising on several occasions before half time.

Olaleye fired a speculative half volley wide from 25 yards on 37 minutes and a minute later, Richard Harker found space on the edge of the area to fire a volley over when a half cleared corner fell to him.

Dunstable started the second half full of confidence and in the opening ten minutes of the half came close to scoring.

On 51 minutes, Jonathan Barnett saw his half volley deflected inches wide of the target and from the resulting corner, Mel Capleton had to stretch to fingertip a low shot around the post.

Capleton was again called into action moments later blocking Harker’s shot when he was left unmarked at the far post from a right wing corner.

Oyeleye then made a fine run down the left wing but saw his curling shot crash against the angle of post and crossbar and away to safety.
Canvey though seemed to have weathered this brief storm but the game turned on Fanibuyan’s sending off.
Leon Gordon broke down the right wing and as he cut the ball back to the far post, Fanibuyan seemed to be dragged back by Nick Nolan for what looked a ‘cast iron’ penalty.

The referee waved away Canvey protests and in his frustration, Fanibuyan kicked out at Nolan giving the referee no other option but to show the winger a red card.

Canvey in previous games have showed great spirit when going down to ten men but this time they looked stunned and crumbled spectacularly and Dunstable were on level terms when substitute Russell Preston broke through to slot home past Capleton on 59 minutes.

Worse was to follow as within 5 minutes, the Gulls were 3-1 down. A right wing cross was headed home by Strange into the corner of the net and then the Polish forward Krzysztof Matyskiewicz provided the third goal with a towering header at the far post after he was left unmarked from a left wing corner.

Danny Curran and Steve Corbell came on for Jay Curran and Ryan Oliva almost straight away but by now the damage was virtually done.

With Oyeleye constantly teasing Tarkan Mustafa down the left, it was Dunstable who always looked capable of grabbing more goals.

Richard Halle saw his header blocked on the line from Gordon’s left wing corner on 76 minutes but Canvey’s ten men were looking down and out and Dunstable played out the remaining time quite comfortably dominating possession and adding two more goals to add insult to injury.

On 80 minutes, Harker was there at the far post to head home a left wing cross from Leigh Harrington and a disastrous afternoon was completed for Canvey on 90 minutes when Mustafa looped a header over his own keeper Capleton after making a calamitous error from a left wing cross.

Shortly afterwards the whistle went to bring Canvey’s FA Cup campaign to a dramatically premature halt.

An afternoon that Canvey would rather forget in a hurry and they will be desperate to erase the memory of this result with a positive display against Sutton United at Gander Green Lane next weekend.

Match Report by David Powell.