Canvey Island produced a five-star performance in the Hertfordshire rain on Saturday, defeating Southern League Division One Central side Welwyn Garden City 5-0 in our penultimate pre-season friendly.

Manager Mark Bentley partnered centre back Michael Finneran with Stevenage academy player Corrie Rodriguez after Rob Girdlestone was not at 100%. Right back Ben Sampayo featured on the other side of Finneran, a defender who won the FA Youth Cup with Chelsea in 2010 and has recently played for Bishop’s Stortford.

The Gulls got off to the best possible start when they took the lead after only two minutes. A ball hooked over the defence by Tobi Joseph released forward Louie Hunt. He collected the ball just outside the area and managed to poke it past the advancing goalkeeper to slot home.

Hunt had another opportunity five minutes later when Harrison Chatting’s ball forwards from the left was miscontrolled by a defender. This gifted the forward possession, but this time his low show from 25 yards was kept out by the right boot of goalkeeper Charlie Crowley.

One passage of play that seemed to produce consistent success was a long, raking pass from midfield out to the left for Tobi Joseph to run onto. It was one of these balls that allowed Joseph to head infield on 14 minutes, having his first shot parried before the seeing his follow-up effort deflect behind for a corner.

Captain Jey Siva sent the corner into the box which was met by the head of Jamie Salmon to score Canvey’s second of the afternoon.

It was 3-0 on 20 minutes when another one of those dangerous balls forward found Tobi Joseph once again. This time he managed to get to the corner of the box from the left, chipping the keeper with a crisp finish.

After looking out of sorts in the opening half hour, the hosts did create a couple of chances as the match approached half time.

On 36 minutes a cross from the left found the head of Elliott Bailey, but his stretching effort went narrowly wide of the top corner.

Then, on the stroke of half time they were awarded a free kick just outside the penalty area. Dave Keeleyside stepped up and curled the ball over the wall, but Bobby Mason did well to save diving to his right.

Mark Bentley would have asked his troops for more of the same in the second half, and this is exactly what he got only two minutes into the restart.

A perfectly weighted ball from Jamie Salmon found the run of Tobi Joseph who found himself through on goal. Joseph was slightly hesitant and saw his eventual shot saved, but the ball rebounded straight to Louie Hunt who scored from 18 yards via the underside of the crossbar.

Elliott Ronto thought he had added to the scoring on 52 minutes when he slotted across goal from the right after an excellent ball from Conor Hubble, but his effort was ruled out by the offside flag.

On 71 minutes a cross from the right by Ben Sampayo was punched away by keeper Charlie Crowley before Tobi Joseph could head home. The loose ball fell to substitute Rob Lacey who struck a sweet volley back towards goal, forcing Crowley into a fantastic save to force a corner.

The final goal of the match came a minute later. The trademark ball for Tobi Joseph to run onto did the trick once again, setting the forward off on a foot race with defender Lee Close. With Joseph closing in and putting Close under pressure, the defender attempted to play the ball back to his goalkeeper.

However, the contact was not the one he would have wanted, and instead lobbed the keeper and found the top corner with a finish that any forward would have been proud of.