Match Repott by David Powell
Image Credit - Glen Eckett

Canvey Island boosted their Isthmian Premier play off aspirations with a solid 1-0 victory away at Bognor Regis Town on Saturday.

The Gulls put in another good performance on the road, keeping a clean sheet and dictating large swathes of the game at a ground in which they've seen little success in the past.

From the start, they attacked the home defence, creating numerous chances, and it was only good goalkeeping by Matt Rowley that kept them at bay from finding the net.

On 28 minutes, Bradley Sach got on the end of a big chance and forced a strong save from Rowley, before Joe Paxman hit the crossbar with a looping header shortly after.

The Gulls did have the ball in the back of the net twice, though Sach and Edwards were to be denied by the offside flag.

Evans Kouassi proved to be a threat again out wide and broke through on goal on 38 minutes, but Rowley did well to nick the ball off of his toes as he attempted to round the keeper.

A goal seemed inevitable, with Kouassi finding space on numerous occasions to break through the Bognor defence, so it came as little surprise when notched the opener on 41 minutes..

A superb delivery through the channels saw him break past his markers and round the keeper to finish confidently into the net, much to the delight of the Canvey contingent that had made the journey.

Into the second half and Canvey nearly sealed the game just seven minutes after the restart as Kouassi again broke for goal, once again sending Rowley to ground, but firing agonisingly into the side netting.

The hosts looked for a way to get back in the game, enjoy the better of the possession, though they rarely threatened the Canvey goal. Nathan Odokonyero was their biggest threat, and had a couple of sights of goal, but rarely tested Bobby Mason as he dragged his efforts wide of the target.

Johnny Ashman came on with 25 minutes to go to make his debut for Canvey after signing from East Thurrock during the week and despite a couple of brief moments where Rocks looked to have a sight on goal, Canvey saw out the game fairly comfortably to seal a massive three points.

They now look ahead to a big week in the playoff picture, with a game in hand away at Lewes on Tuesday night before they return to Park Lane on Saturday to take on Hastings United.