The Gulls were back in action this afternoon as they took on Gorleston in their first competitive outing, following last Saturday’s pre-season draw with Colchester United U21s, Garry Kimble’s side were eager to start the season with a positive result.

The visitors kicked-off the afternoon to get our 26/27 campaign rolling, however a minute later a good chance to take the lead fell to the Gulls, with winger Ernest Okoh seeing his early close-range effort parried away by Antoni Bort in the Greens’ goal. Five minutes later, it was Ernest causing problems again for Gorleson’s back-line as he took on a couple of defenders before being brought down in the area. The Referee waved away the penalty shouts and gave the visitors a goal-kick to the annoyance of the Canvey fans.

On the fifteenth minute the Gulls were awarded a free-kick after a late challenge, Jack Cawley and Conor Hubble stood over it, before the set-piece was eventually taken by the centre-back. The loose pass out wide to Louie Arrowsmith was intercepted and the Green’s pushed on the counter for an opener, which was found after Aaron Bullent fired home his effort from the break.

A minute after the opener the Gulls were back on the front foot and it was Ernest Okoh who saw his strike fired wide from the edge of the box after cutting inside. Mitchell May had an opportunity to grab the equaliser a few minutes later, however Antoni Bort stood firm to deny the Gulls a leveller. Just before the half an hour mark Ernest Okoh was causing more chaos as he once again cut inside from the wing and fired an effort towards goal, that struck the crossbar.

Around five minutes later, Mitchell May was played through to go one-on-one with the Gorleston Goalie who once more stood tall to make another huge stop, where he parried the ball into the path of an arriving Ernest Okoh who could direct the rebound on target. The next notable moment came in additional time where Gorleston’s Lewis Johnson fired home a second from the edge of the area.

Half time: Canvey Island 0-2 Gorleston

The Referee blew his whistle to signal a start to the second forty-five, and Conor Hubble got us back underway, just before the hour mark George Scales whipped in a dangerous looking cross, which ended up troubling the Goalkeeper as Antoni Bort tipped the cross over the bar for a Canvey corner, however the set-piece resulted in nothing.

The Gulls had another penalty shout in the second-half as Louie Arrowsmith was brought down inside the area, however the Referee deemed no issue with the challenge and play continued, a few minutes after, Garry Kimble made his first change of the day, with Freddie Price replacing Rasheed Salau in the midfield. Not long after another change was made with Omar Rowe coming on for Ernest Okoh. The Gulls had yet another penalty shout with Freddie Price’s cross clipping the arm of the Gorleston defender, however, the Referee waved play on and awarded a corner instead.

On the eighty-fifth minute Canvey eventually found the back of the net after Michael Finneran flicked the ball into the box, and after a scramble in the area the ball fell to substitute Freddie Price who’s effort was palmed away into the path of Mitchell May who tapped home from a few yards out to half the deficit. Minutes after the goal, striker Ross Wall was shown a red card after some words with the Referee and was dismissed for the final minutes. The third change of the afternoon saw Charlie Panton make way for Rowan Balestreri and soon after the whistle was blown for full-time.