Match Report

Canvey Island Reserves picked up their second win of the season with an impressive performance at Park Lane this evening. Despite going a goal behind early on, the Gulls recovered well and scored three well taken goals in order to seal the victory.

Canvey started positively, with Danny Francis proving to be a handful for the Bowers & Pitsea left back all evening. His first real impact came in the 12th minute as he beat two players before rolling the ball to captain Ben Lowes, his shot sailing narrowly wide.

However, the visitors managed to take the lead 2 mintues later through midfielder B Connolly. A well timed run saw the youngster beat the Canvey offside trap, leaving him one on one with home custodian Marc Ryan. After skipping the ball past the stranded keeper, Connolly drilled the ball into an empty net from close range to give his side the advantage.

Despite Canvey narrowly having the better of the possession, they were struggling to create any clear cut chances. However, this was to change in the final 10 minutes of the half, as Canvey managed to turn the 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead before the interval.

Firstly, substitute Kieran English did well to find Stuart Batch from a wide left position. Batch held the ball well before setting up Ben Lowes, whose resulting shot seemed destined for the top left hand corner. However, a good one handed save from Smith in the visitors goal turned the ball around the post for a corner.

Three minutes later Danny Francis cut in from the right wing and hit a low, powerful shot towards goal. The keeper was unable to get to this one, though luckily for Bowers the right post was at hand to deflect the ball behind for a goal kick.

The pressure was beginning to build for Canvey, and the equalising goal finally came a minute later. Kieran English slotted a through ball into the Bowers 18 yard box which Danny Woodcock was able to latch onto. After a quick look up, his right footed shot beat the keeper from his left and found the back of the net.

3 minutes later and English was in the action again, this time turning from provider to goalscorer. Another workmanlike performance from Ben Lowes enabled him to shrug of a decent challenge to maintain possession on the left wing. His precise cross found the head of Kieran English who thumped a powerful header into the bottom right hand corner of the net.

Canvey worked the Bowers back line hard in the second half, so much so that the linesman patrolling this end of the pitch had to be replaced after picking up an injury. The game was becoming increasingly scrappy as Bowers looked to get back into the game and Canvey seeking the goal that would end the contest. Luckily for The Gulls, it was the latter that would occur.

Danny Francis, now occupying the left wing, slid a ball through into the path of Kieran English to run onto. He was unable to get to the ball before the onrushing goalkeeper, but his efforts meant that Smith's attempted clearance rebounded off of English and fell kindly to Ben Lowes. Rather than blasting an early shot, Lowes took the ball from the edge of the box to a better position and tapped the ball home past the defender on the line.

In the final moments of the match, Mitchell Lowes almost emulated his brothers efforts by getting a goal for himself, though his long range effort flew narrowly wide of the left goalpost.

So, an impressive comeback sees Canvey rise to 8th position in the Essex, Herts & Bordering Counties Combination League, with the visit of pointless Clapton to follow on Saturday.

Man of the Match:

Kieran English:  Scored one and set up the other two following being introduced as a substitute.