Match report by David Powell

Canvey Island won through to the 3rd qualifying round of the FA Trophy after a thrilling 7-6 penalty shoot out win over Ware at Wodson Park.

The game against Southern League Central Division One opponents ended 2-2 after 90 minutes after Gulls twice lead. In the penalty shoot out, Canvey looked down and out after missing their first two penalties and being 2-0 down at one stage but were indebted to keeper Bobby Mason who saved 4 penalties and scored the winner.

The game took a while to get going and for much of the first half, Gulls struggled to create an impression and impose themselves on the match.

After 12 minutes, Tauree Skandari fired wide from Marcus Milner's right wing cross and Skandari and then Liam Dulson forced Mason into saves soon after.

Mason's best save of the half came on 42 minutes when from James Mulley's cross, Louis Rose headed towards goal but Mason showed great reactions to turn the ball over the crossbar.

The nearest Canvey came to scoring in the first half was just before the break when Patrick Adamson miscued a clearance straight to Matt Price but his shot from a tight angle was kept out well by Bradley Robinson at his near post.

The second half, Canvey showed much improvement in attack. On 52 minutes they took the lead with a well taken strike from Conor Hubble. Elliot Ronto steered Evans Kouassi's left wing cross into the path of Price. He tried to lay it off to Kouassi but the loose ball fell to Hubble who from inside the penalty area drilled a low shot past Robinson via the aid of a deflection.

The lead lasted barely 5 minutes as from a left wing corner, Dave Kendall rose to head home at the far post.

The goal failed to knock Canvey out of their stride and Kouassi went close a few minutes later when he collected a through ball and attempted to chip Robinson from 18 yards but the ball drifted agonisingly wide of the post.

On 61 minutes, Canvey were in front again. Price picked up the ball after an error from the defender on the right hand edge of the penalty area, held off the keeper and beat two defenders on the line with a well placed shot.

Kouassi was then denied by Robinson as Canvey looked to seal the game. Their cause was not helped when with ten minutes to go, Price had to limp off injured to be replaced by Jamie Salmon. Without a recognised striker, Canvey had to dig deep but they conceded with 8 minutes to go when Rose smashed a loose ball home in the penalty area.

To their credit despite their attacking disadvantage, Canvey could have won the game in the closing minutes. First Tobi Tinubu threatened to break through but was dispossessed at the last moment and then a fantastic run by Callum Fitzer driving at the Ware defence saw him force the keeper to save the ball high above his head.

So, it was on to a penalty shoot out. Things didn't look good for Canvey when Hubble and Jey Siva missed Canvey's first two penalties and Ware scored their first two. The momentum swung back in Canvey's favour when Mason saved Robbie Buchanan's kick and Harrison Chatting scored.

When Albert Adu scored, Ware were still 3-1 ahead. Elliot Ronto scored the next one and Chris Arthur then had the chance to put Ware through but Mason saved his kick.

Evangelos Empochontsif levelled the scores with a confident kick to take it to sudden death. When a Ware player missed, Salmon had the chance to win the game for Canvey but Robinson made an excellent save to keep the scores level.

Tinubu, Fitzer and Mckenzie Davidson then showed great courage and maturity to fire home confident penalties with Ware scoring their next three.

At 6-6, Mason saved for a fourth time and then stepped up to smash home the winning penalty much to the delight of the travelling Canvey support to culminate a thrilling victory for Canvey on a sunny October afternoon.

Match report to follow