St Ives Town 0-0 Canvey Island

Canvey Island and St Ives Town will have to try again on Tuesday night following a 0-0 draw at Westwood Road in the Emirates FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round on Saturday.

Manager Mark Bentley named the same side that were beaten heavily by Maldon & Tiptree on Tuesday night. There was however a return to the substitutes bench for winger Ryan Melaugh following a lengthy spell on the sidelines through injury.

The first sight that either side had of goal came in the 10th minute when Dan Humphreys delivered a low cross from the right. A defender failed to make contact with his attempted clearance which allowed the ball to run through towards Jason Hallett at the front post. Hallett got his foot to the ball before his marker but steered his shot the wrong side of the post.

A minute later James White struck a dipping volley from the edge of the box following a corner, but once again the ball sailed wide for a goal kick.

St Ives created their first chance on 16 minutes when forward Jack Snelus got the better of Jack Snelus of Dan Humphreys who was playing at right back. Snelus shot trying to beat Lamar Johnson at his near post, but the Canvey keeper made a good save diving to his right.

On 24 minutes Elliott Warren met a Josh Hutchinson corner with his head, driving the ball down and towards goal. A defender managed to get a foot to the ball which looped up into the air for Jason Hallett to attack, but his header was cleared inside the six-yard box.

The match entered a bit of a lull for 20 minutes, although the was plenty of drama in store as the first half ticked over into stoppage time.

First, a long ball forwards for the hosts released striker Dylan Wilson down the right. He managed to lob the ball goalwards from inside the box, but Lamar Johnson was well-positioned to pluck it out of the air underneath his crossbar.

Soon afterwards the ball was up the other end, rattling around in the box and eventually falling to George Purcell. The forward drilled the ball into the bottom corner via a deflection off ofMichael Finneran, but as the defender was in an offside position the goal was ruled out.

St Ives Town were reduced to ten men with the last action of the opening half with Jarvis Wilson flew in with a reckless challenge on Albert Levett. Referee Alistair Wilson wasted no time in producing a straight red card, although this was possibly a little on the harsh.

The second half took a while to see an attempt on goal, but when it did it should have resulted in Canvey taking the lead.

A clearance saw the ball played down the right wing which George Purcell did well to keep in play and then fizz in field for Jason Hallett. He in turn flicked a perfect through ball for Tobi Joseph to run onto coming in from the left, but finding himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper he delayed his shot which was closed down and saved.

Aside from that, there was very little in the way of action and the rest of the half passed off without incident. The hosts did well to get their ten players back and defend when Canvey were in possession, while the Gulls lacked the urgency or accuracy required to break down the ten men.