Match Report by David Powell

Canvey Island were denied their fourth successive win in the league as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Carshalton Athletic at the Moviestarr Stadium.

The Robins were reduced to 10 men for the entirety of the second half after Tom Beere's dismissal, but held out despite fierce Canvey pressure.

On a cold, wet afternoon in front of a crowd of 401, including a few German visitors among the away contingent, the Gulls created the first chance in the opening minute, with Conor Hubble firing just over the crossbar.

The visitors though, survived the early pressure and took the lead on 11 minutes.
A ball across the face of the goal by Leo Hamblin was slotted home by from close range by Tom Beere, Canvey's defence somehow missing him at the far post.

Carshalton were boyed on by the opener and enjoyed the better of the remainder of the half. Canvey were limited to half chances as they looked to come forward, rarely troubling Danny Bracken much in the visiting goal.

Matthew Vigor was causing problems down the left for Carshalton and his flicked on cross nearly found Femi Akinwande, but Bobby Mason reached the ball just before the striker. Aaron Smith Joseph nearly extended Robins' lead just before half time but couldn't get a decent contact on the ball.

Canvey held resolute however and, as they have done in the last few games, showed the desire to find the equaliser on the stroke of half time, though the goal wasn't without controversy.

Evans Kouassi picked up the ball on the right and beat his marker for pace. The linesmen on the far side flagged for an offence but the referee overruled it and allowed play to continue.
Kouassi then played a ball to Conor Hubble, only for the midfielder to find Oliver Cook blocking his path. The loose ball fell perfectly to Joe Paxman however, who showed the composure to fire home for his second goal for the club.

Carshalton were incensed in the aftermath but the referee was firm in his decision. Beere was shown a straight red card for dissent, the visitors now a man down going into the second half.

Canvey came out of the traps quuckly after the restart, searching hard for a goal to put them ahead.

First, Rob Girdlestone headed wide at the near post from a right wing corner from Hubble on 50 minutes, before Charlie Edwards saw his header cannon off of the crossbar.

Kouassi began to see more space on the left, finding a good break shortly afterwards but Bracken was out quickly from his goal to narrow the angle and make the save from close range.

With a man advantage, the Gulls dominated much of the half but couldn't find the killer touch needed to win the game.

They did have the ball in the net on 82 minutes, when Bradley Sach headed home a superb left wing cross from Callum Sturgess, but the referee disallowed the effort for a foul on Robins defender Arthur Lee.

Carshalton broke down the other end shortly after and might have snatched a winner against the run of play, but Mason produced a strong save to stop the shot at his near post.

Danny Parish forced Bracken into a scrambling save with a powerful shot from 20 yards in the closing minutes before Paxman put in a fine cross from the left that found Sach waiting, but he couldn’t quite get a decent contact on the ball to drive it home.

Canvey kept plenty of pressure on the visiting goal during injury time, but the ten men held out to secure a point that keeps both sides in touch with the play off places.

The Gulls will now need to prepare themselves for a local derby next week as they visit Billericay Town in the league.