Match Report

A good spirited affair with plenty of action from the start, the lads were disappointed after yesterdays result, but certainly didn’t let it show. This was a disciplined performance against a strong mid table team, Canvey had the lion share of the play and chances, but left it late to clinch the all important win we needed to keep us in contention.

Canvey started the game with both the wind in their favour and also the slope of the pitch, which was very heavy and quite cut up from all the recent bad weather. It was important that they got off to a good start and take something from their first half advantage. It certainly seemed that this would be the case after the first five minutes of play. With only two minutes on the clock Canvey won a free kick just outside the penalty area in a central position, with the strong wind it was well within Henry’s range who did not hesitate to have a go, the shot was brilliantly taken and with the keeper well beaten, the ball rebounded of the cross bar and back into play, unfortunately it fell kindly for the defence and was cleared away. No to be deterred Canvey pressed again a minute later and a firmly struck shot from Harry Harrison hit the right hand upright. At this point Canvey were well on top and they looked all at sea defensively.

When Ecko did push forward a few minutes later both Harry Herbert and Reece were more than equal to them with excellent defensive tackles at the back, Brandon on the right received the loose ball and strove forward, laying the ball onto Bryon who broke into the penalty area and had a shot on goal which was pushed out for a corner.

The rest of the half was fairly even with both sides having good spells of pressure, all the lads played well and Harry Bates had nothing to do all half but gather a few loose balls. With all the advantages it was a disappointment that we did not go in at half time with at least a one goal advantage, but you couldn’t fault the lads for their efforts.

Half time

Ekco started the brighter with both James Heys and Thomas Diss coming on at half time, the team took a minute or so to settle, but after a loose shot from Ekco that went well wide, Canvey pushed forward once more with some good work from James down the right he passed the ball onto Harry Harrison who’s shot was well held by their keeper.

On 26 Minutes Canvey broke away again and Harry Harrson again found himself on the edge of the area, his shot was well placed in the left corner, but was somehow tipped onto the post by the sprawling keeper who was on top form for the home team.  

The second half, despite our disadvantages, became a rather one sided affair with attack after attack, but we simply could not break them down, perhaps the best of the chances fell to Thomas Diss, who after an excellent square pass from Henry on the left, received the ball unmarked in front of goal from only six yards out. He miss kicked the ball and the chance went begging, but this was not a lesson the Ekco defence learned from and two minutes from time, after some great work from Henry and Harry Harrison on the left, the ball was squared again to Thomas in the same spot, this time there was no mistake though and the shot was well placed to the keepers right.

1 – 0 Canvey.

With only two minutes to go, Canvey went into defensive mode for the remainder of the match, Ekco pushed on and had a throw-in by the corner flag in the final minute, a dangerous cross was put in by Ekco, but was well caught by Harry in goal to snub out the danger. The resulting kick out spelled the end of the game and the lads were visably relieved to come away with all three points.

Well done lads, a very disciplined performance and great away win!!!             

TEAM:

1 – Harry Bates – Little to do in this game, but a safe pair of hands when needed.  

2 – Reece McDonough – Had a good game in defence, very alert when needed

3 – Adam Pickin – Came on in the second half and played well.

4 – Harry Harrison – Another good game with some really good battling in midfield, denied a goal in the first half by the woodwork.

5 – Harry Herbert – Had another great game in defence.  

6 - Brandon Fryer – Started today upfront in place of James and had a really good game – Man of the match.

7 - Henry Sims (c) – Excellent passing in midfield, had a fantastic free kick hit the crossbar.

8 – James Heys – Came on in the second half and battled well on the right wing.

9 – Thomas Diss – Came on for Byron in the second half and yet again popped up in the right place to score the winner in the last few minutes of the game.

10 – Byron Brackett  - An excellent game up front for the first half, battled well and showed excellent ball control..

Referee – Fantastic game, fair and encouraging to all the kids.

Manager's Notes

I just want all the boys to know exactly how proud I am for the performance they put in against Ekco, after the disappointment of Saturdays result against Benfleet. I think all the boys showed immense character to get the win against Ekco after coming away from Benfleet without anything to show for all their hard work. Against Benfleet, the boys played very well and definitely deserved at least a point for their troubles. After the game all the boys were really down in the dumps and I was very worried about (a) how I was going to lift them and (b) how they would fair against one of the stronger teams in the league. I needn’t have worried because each and every one of the boys put in, in my opinion, their best performances of the season to take a totally deserved 3 points. What the boys showed me was a never say die attitude, that they have shown all season, and after coming off at half time 0-0, in a half we totally dominated and similar to Saturdays game, I thought our luck was never going to come in. How wrong was I, because playing uphill, against the wind and on a very heavy pitch, they persevered and got their just rewards, by playing out of their skins. Well done boys, whatever happens at the end of the season, I know you have tried your hardest and that is all I could ever ask.