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| Billericay Town Match Report & Details |
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Match Report Canvey Island went down to an embarrassing 4-1 defeat against fierce local rivals Billericay Town in a Boxing Day fixture at New Lodge.The Gulls were comprehensively outplayed in every department and Billericay belied their lowly position in the league table with a spirited and hard-working performance to seal a deserved three points in front of a crowd of over 500. Due to the bad weather and various fixture re-arrangements, both teams had gone over two weeks without playing a competitive match therefore it was no surprise that they both looked a little ‘rusty’ in the opening moments of the game. It was Canvey who started brightly with James Rowe and Gabriel Fanibuyan looking lively. The first opportunity of the game didn’t arrive until 16 minutes. Fanibuyan tricked his way past Ian Cousins down the right and played a fine ball to the near post where Jay Curran got a touch to direct the ball towards goal. Town goalkeeper Andy Walker reacted well though to push the ball away. Billericay gradually settled and started to look the better team. They won a number of corners and free kicks in decent positions but failed to really test James Russell in the Canvey goal. Ben Patten was booked for a clumsy foul and on 34 minutes, Town took the lead with their first real shot on goal. Matt Hall showed superb tenacity to keep the ball in play and cross from the right to the far post where the ball was headed towards goal. Russell did well to keep the effort out but was powerless to stop Billy Bricknell firing home the rebound from a couple of yards out. This goal boosted Billericay’s confidence and they flooded forward in search of a second goal before half time. Bricknell nearly extended their lead on 43 minutes when he steered a left wing cross inches wide of the target. Canvey replaced Andrew West with Leon Gordon at half time and Gordon’s first contribution was to be booked for a wild challenge. Things got progressively worse for Canvey on 58 minutes when Bricknell wriggled free in the penalty area and was able to fire in a volley beyond Russell and into the corner of the net. Gulls replaced Greg Cohen with Jon Edwards but the impressive Bricknell topped off a superb performance by completing his hat-trick on 66 minutes. Bricknell broke through Canvey’s ‘offside trap’ by latching on to a lobbed pass to go through and coolly place his shot beyond Russell. That was game over for Canvey but the introduction of Jason Hallett for Ben Patten did give them a bit more firepower up front. Hallett nearly managed to make an instant impact within a minute of coming on but after getting on the end of Rowe’s flick on, Walker did well to save at the striker’s feet and block his effort from close range. Billericay though continued to push forward in search of a 4th goal to add insult to injury and Russell did well to get down and push away a low shot from Danny Green on 73 minutes. They also struck the crossbar with a header as the Canvey defence threatened to capitulate completely. Kevin Dobinson was booked as Canvey’s frustration started to boil over. Canvey’s miserable afternoon continued in lacklustre fashion when on 77 minutes, Hallett managed to round Walker but with the net gaping he contrived to screw the ball across goal and wide from close range. Russell was then forced to beat away a fierce drive from Green after a corner was half cleared but Hallett made amends for his earlier miss by giving Canvey some brief hope with a goal on 82 minutes. Walker fumbled a routine, low, left wing cross by Fanibuyan at his near post and Hallett was on hand to nip in and tap home the ball from a yard out. It looked for a moment that Canvey might make the last few minutes a little nervy for Billericay but the Blues sealed victory on 86 minutes when substitute David Wareham was released down the left and he rounded Russell and steered the ball home from a difficult angle. Billericay could have added to the score in the remaining few minutes but by now much of the Canvey support was heading towards the exits, totally frustrated and bewildered by their side’s ineptness and all round poor display. Things don’t get any easier for the Gulls in their next game when they host runaway league leaders Dartford on Tuesday night. Oysterfleet Man of the Match: JAMES RUSSELL: The one Canvey player to come out of the game with any real credit. Made a couple of good stops to prevent the score from becoming a total embarassment. Match Report by David Powell |
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