Canvey Island 5-0 Witham Town

Canvey Island cruised to a 5-0 victory against Witham Town in the Velocity Trophy Group Six at Park Lane on Tuesday night.

In what was a dead rubber for both teams, Canvey looked more motivated than Witham and made that count with five different players getting their names on the scoresheet.

Witham goalkeeper Rhys Madden was called into action after only five minutes, making an excellent double save. Tobi Joseph’s low ball from the right was steered towards goal by Kane Gilbert sliding in, but Madden was well placed to keep the shot out. The loose ball fell to Dan Humphreys who shot towards the bottom corner was also kept out by Madden, his time diving full to his right.

Lamar Johnson’s first involvement since returning from international duty came on 13 minutes when forward Alfie Cleal met a deep free kick by Kieran Michaels with a flick on header. However, he didn’t change the direction of the ball sufficiently enough to prevent Johnson from grasping possession.

Canvey took the lead on the quarter of an hour mark when Josh Hutchinson set off on a positive run from midfield. He made up 20 yards before playing the ball out left to Max Kent who sent in a low ball to the front post which found Tobi Joseph. The forward was unmarked and had time to take a touch before smashing the ball home from point blank range.

Joseph nearly turned from scorer to provider on 20 minutes when he received the ball from Freddy Eastwood down the right. Joseph played the ball across the face of goal to the back post which Josh Hutchinson failed to make contact on running in.

Both Dan Humphreys and Freddy Eastwood had long range efforts saved by Rhys Madden before Eastwood doubled Canvey’s advantage on 31 minutes. Following a good tackle from James White over by the dugouts, the ball was played down the left wing which Eastwood collected, took infield and finished across goal from a tight angle.

It was 3-0 six minutes later with Eastwood involved again. This time the striker’s shot was blocked by a defender but looped up and landed at the feet of Josh Hutchinson. The winger brought the ball under control before finishing confidently from 12 yards.

Witham had a chance to reduce the arrears on 40 minutes when forward Marcus Bowers was played in behind the Canvey defence to the left of goal, leaving himself one-on-one with Lamar Johnson. However, the keeper did well, coming off his line and saving with his legs at the expense of a corner.

This missed opportunity proved costly two minutes later when Dan Humphreys killed off any chance of a comeback. A good cross-field ball to Kane Gilbert on the right allowed the winger to slide a pass through to Dan Humphreys to leave himself with only Rhys Madden to beat. The keeper saved his shot from a tight angle, but the ball rebounded back to Humphreys who finished at the second time of asking.

Kane Gilbert saw a shot saved after being played through down the right three minutes into the second half, but would add his name to the scoresheet on 54 minutes after substitute Rob Lacey was brought down inside the box by Rhys Madden.

Gilbert stepped up and picked out the bottom corner expertly from the penalty spot to score Canvey’s fifth.

It looked as though the floodgates might open once again as they had in the first half, but this failed to materialise.

The closes they came was in the 91st minute when a good pass from the left by Alex Stephenson found Tobi Joseph on the edge of the six yard box, but his first time shot was brilliantly saved by substitute goalkeeper James Askew.

Photo: KJA Sports Images