Canvey Island suffered injury time heartache on the road as they succumb to a last gasp equaliser to draw 2-2 with Bishop's Stortford at Woodside Park.

On a freezing late winter's evening on the Essex/Herts border, a Matt Johnson penalty five minutes after the regular 90 saw Stortford come back from 2-0 down at half time to snatch a last gasp point.

It was a cruel result for the Gulls, who produced a spirited and battling display, taking their chances well in the first half and defending heroically at times.

The league leaders showed their mantle however and, for the first 20 minutes, were the side on top, camping around the Canvey box, with Johnson's long throws proving a real menace.

In the 8th minute, one such set piece was flicked on by Chris Harris into the path of former Gulls winger Ryan Charles, but Bobby Mason was there to turn the ball away from goal.

Canvey gradually settled after a frantic start and began to create chances of their own. A quick succession of balls into the box led to the game's opener, as they took the lead on 21 minutes.

A Conor Hubble corner caused panic in the hosts penalty area, with the ball only being cleared as far as Joe Paxman. He and Sam Mvemba combined to launch another ball into the box that again couldn't be cleared.
Evans Kouassi picked up the loose ball and laid it to Hubble, who again launched another accurate cross into the area. This time, Bradley Sach was waiting, and made no mistake with his header as he buried the ball into the bottom corner for his 19th league goal of the season.

Even better was to follow on 25 minutes when the Gulls doubled their lead. Evans Kouassi broke down the right and played a cross into the penalty area that was only met with a scuffed clearance. The ball fell nicely to Joe Paxman, who smashed a low, first time strike into the corner of the net to make it 2-0 to Canvey.

Rather than rest on their morals, Canvey remained in the ascendcey, and it could easily have been three before half time when Elliott Ronto crashed a shot off the crossbar from a corner.

A 2-0 lead at the break seemed comfortable for the Gulls, but they knew they'd face a different battle in the second half as Stortford came out all guns blazing, pushing them back for long periods.

It was the Gulls though, who could have sealed the match five minutes into the half.

Kouassi robbed a defender of possession and squared the ball to Sach in the box. Giddens made a fine save to block the striker's first shot, with the rebound fired just over the bar to squander the Gulls best chance to seal the game.

From there, Stortford spent much of the remainder of the match in Canvey's half.

Former Canvey striker Frankie Merrifield, who came on as a half time substitute, headed two efforts wide, with Sam Deering also steering a shot just wide of the bottom corner.

Deering thought he'd scored on 70 minutes, but for a magnificent save from Bobby Mason to keep his goal bound header out. Harris then felt he should have had a penalty moments later when he went down in the box, before Stortford reduced the arrears.
Merrifield picked up the ball just yards from goal from a low Darren Foxley's cross, and made no mistake as he drilled home.

Canvey were now having to defend desperately, putting their bodies on the line, with Ronto and Elliott Johnson superb in defence and Charlie Edwards and Jamie Salmon working hard in midfield.

Wellmen sured up his side defensively as the Gulls did all they could to hold on to three points. Tinubu, Albon and Girdlestone were introduced into the game and helped to raise the defence, breaking out occasionally and hammering in some superb defensive tackles.

An almighty goalmouth scramble was eventually cleared by the Canvey defence and when Harris headed over from an Ollie Peters cross, it looked like Canvey had done enough to hold on.

Despite four minutes going up on the fourth officials board however, it was in the fifth minute of additional time that the refferee awarded Stortford a penalty for an apparent Elliott Ronto handball in the penalty area, much to Canvey’s dismay.

Despite their protests, Johnson was allowed step up and calmly stroked the ball past Mason to seal a dramatic comeback for the hosts. An additional minute was allowed to be played before the full time whistle was finally blown.

Despite the disappointment of squandering a two goal lead, Canvey will take great heart from a battling performance against the league leaders, backed once again by a strong following from the Yellow Army. They'll have to take that determination into another huge fixture on Saturday, with Margate the visitors to the Moviestarr Stadium.