Canvey Island 1-2 Dereham Town

A 95th minute goal condemned Canvey to another home defeat, losing 2-1 at Park Lane to Dereham Town on Saturday.

Manager Mark Bentley made one change from the side that beat Soham Town Rangers away on Tuesday night, bringing Matt Lock back into the starting XI in place of Alex Stephenson. James White dropped back into central defence and Lock slotted in the middle of midfield.

Canvey started brightly, creating a number of chances inside the opening ten minutes.

The first came on five minutes when Jason Hallett was fouled on the left wing. Sam Bantick curled the free kick to the back post where it was met by George Woodward, although his shot from close range went across the face of goal and wide of the far post.

Bantick was in behind himself soon afterwards when he latched onto a through ball. However, goalkeeper Elliot Pride was alert to the danger and charged down the shot, meeting it just inside his area to save.

On nine minutes a good ball into the box from the left by George Woodward narrowly evaded the head of a defender and landed at the feet of Jason Hallett. The forward took a touch and managed to poke a shot goalwards, but once again the Dereham keeper did well to come off his line and smother the effort.

James White curled a free kick a couple of yards wide for Canvey on 21 minutes, but after this point the visitors went on to dominate the rest of the half, causing plenty of problems from wide areas in particular.

On 31 minutes a low ball from left back Jack Imrie was pulled across from the face of goal and met by Ryan Crisp sliding in. Crisp managed to steer the ball goalwards, but thankfully James White was well placed to clear the ball inside the six yard box.

Crisp had another chance four minutes later when he was played in down the right, getting past James White and getting his shot off. However, Rob Budd was equal to the well-struck effort, getting his top hand to the ball diving to his right and palming it away.

On 38 minutes Tom Hilliard found himself in a similar position coming in from the opposite flank, making his way into the box and bearing down on goal. However, just as he was about to pull the trigger, Canvey captain James White slid in with a last ditch tackle to force a corner.

Crisp drilled a shot into the side netting from 20 yards just before the break, with the Magpies going into the break well in control.

Canvey took the lead against the run of play six minutes into the second half after Jason Hallett had been fouled out on the right. Matt Lock delivered the ball to the back post which was knocked back across goal for Rob Lacey to tap home unmarked from close range.

Dereham will wonder how they didn’t level the score four minutes later when they were awarded a right wing free kick of their own. The ball into the box caught Canvey’s defence statuesque, with as many as four opponents beating the offside trap and getting in behind.

Matthew Castellan looped the ball onto the crossbar before a teammate forced a save from Rob Budd diving to his right. The ball remained in play and fell perfectly for Dion Frary on the left, but he dragged his shot across goal and wide.

The visitors didn’t need to rue this missed opportunity for long, as on 58 minutes some more poor defending gifted them an equaliser. Canvey failed to clear a ball on the edge of the box which was charged down by Robbie Linford. He kept the ball under control and slotted coolly past Rob Budd from 12 yards to score.

Sam Bantick had an opportunity to restore Canvey’s lead on 67 minutes when Ryan Melaugh clipped the ball to the back post from the left. Bantick rose but was always stretching, sending his header a yard wide of the top corner.

It looked as though the match was destined for a draw as the two sides cancelled each other out for the rest of the match, but there was a twist in the tale still to come.

Dereham were awarded a free kick out on the right wing in the 95th minute which was delivered to the back post and headed home by Ryan Crisp to ensure the three points went back to Norfolk.