Match Report

Canvey Island battled back from 2-0 down to gain a point from a 2-2 draw with Ramsgate at Southwood Stadium. Gulls had to play the majority of the second half with only ten men after Richard Halle was sent off for a second yellow card but goals from Jay Curran and an injury time strike by Leon Gordon saw Canvey grab a point that had seemed unlikely for much of the game.

Canvey were poor for the majority of the first half and their hosts deserved their 2-0 half time lead but Gulls have demonstrated in previous games this season that they never know when they are beaten and produced another spirited second half display against all the odds.

Both teams were slow to get going in this game with neither keeper having much to do in the opening 20 minutes.

Ramsgate had the better of the possession with forwards Stefan Ball and Jay May both looking lively whilst Leon Antoine up front for Canvey was always a nuisance to the Ramsgate defence.

Nick Davis was booked for a foul on 16 minutes before Ramsgate took the lead with their first shot on target on 24 minutes.

Lee Minshull was given far too much space on the edge of the area by the Canvey defence and curled a well placed shot beyond Mel Capleton and into the back of the net.

A second goal came three minutes later when Ball broke down the right and fired in a low cross that former Dartford striker May slid home at the far post.

At this stage, Canvey were struggling to find any real rhythm and Ramsgate were dominating the midfield as the Gulls seemed somewhat sluggish and slow to pick up the second ball.

Tarkan Mustafa finally had Canvey’s first shot of the game on 30 minutes firing a shot wide from the right hand edge of the penalty area before May went close at the other end with a header off target.

Canvey finally started to get back into the game on the stroke of half time. Steve Corbell fired an effort over and then Halle tried his luck with a speculative shot from 25 yards that Ramsgate keeper Jack Delo had to get across to and get a slight touch, to concede a corner.

Ramsgate started the second half well with Byron Walker in particular looking a threat on the wing.
Capleton was forced into making a good parry from a powerful shot from the left hand side before Canvey gradually started to settle and create some chances of their own.

On 51 minutes, Jay Curran broke through down the left hand side of the penalty area but Delo did well to block his effort with the defender clearing the danger.

Halle fired over from 20 yards shortly afterwards and then a minute later, Corbell did well to fire in a low driven cross from the left that Curran got a boot to but with Delo beaten the ball crashed back off of the crossbar and away to safety.

Canvey suffered a real blow to their chances of getting back into the game on 54 minutes when Halle was sent off for a second yellow card after a robust challenge in midfield.

It seemed this would be the end of Canvey’s resistance but 5 minutes later, they were back in the game. Antoine’s flicked pass sent Curran through on goal and he showed good composure to fire a low shot beyond Delo and into the net for his 5th goal of the season.

Canvey were back in the contest and despite Ramsgate having the better possession, their final ball into the box was often lacking and for the most part Mel Capleton in the Canvey goal dealt with everything thrown at him with a calm assurance.

Canvey took off Mustafa and replaced him with Jon Edwards as they went to three at the back as they searched for an equaliser.

Captain Craig Davidson came close to getting that for Canvey on 75 minutes when his shot from the edge of the area drifted just wide of the far post after good play from Corbell and Curran.

Despite their extra man advantage, Ramsgate couldn’t seem to break down a resolute Canvey defence with Chris Moore, Ben Patten and Andrew West holding firm.

As injury time approached, the Gulls sensed that maybe they could still snatch something from this game.
West came close with a looping header from a partially cleared corner that Ryan Royston had to head away from near the goal-line and then moments later Canvey were level.

Curran found space on the right hand side of the penalty area and drilled in a low cross that Delo under pressure from Antoine couldn’t hold at his near post. This lead to an almighty scramble in the six yard box with the ball popping up to Moore and Gordon. Both players converged on the ball with Gordon getting there fractionally before to fire into the back of the net much to the delight of the travelling support.

Canvey held out for the remainder of injury time to seal a well earned point that owed a lot to a spirited, never say die performance in the second half.

Gulls are away again on Tuesday night when they travel to Wealdstone.

Oysterfleet Man of the Match:

MEL CAPLETON:  Another solid display from the veteran custodian.

Match Report by David Powell.