Canvey Island v Croydon Athletic

[The Gaffer from the Rock]

First things first...we got the 3 points to continue our excellent current form! Was a lot more nerve racking than it needed to be but hey, 5 goals in total & 3 points for our mighty yellows all for a tenner!! I'll take that every time, not sure my ticker will though .

 

All credit must go to Croydon though for making it interesting. They are definitely not a bottom 6 team but any team that find themselves 3-0 after half Hour regardless of league position must be wondering why they bothered to turn up. As nervous as I was in that second half I actually enjoyed watching Croydon play.

As TGE has mentioned, there no.9 & no.11 were a real handful, quick, strong & very skillfull who caused us problems all night but our boys to their credit stuck to their jobs, special mention to Dumas who I thought was brilliant, a close runner up to Matty Game for MOTM. Who got that by the way?

 

Good result in the end & another victory which will add to the confidence both on & off the pitch.

 

 

Kingy got MOTM, Gamo was awesome again, Healesy's goal was down his persistence and not giving up on the ball. We should've been 5/6 up at half time and apart from the gifted goal and a few brief attacks Croydon were never in the first half. The second half was a different story although we had more than enough chances to have put the result beyond doubt! I think they will go down because on their first half showing they are dead certs and although they gave us a hell of a second half they surely cant expect to survive giving teams 3 goal leads!

[Gary D]

Really did think Gamo was exceptional last night, both 1st half & continued it 2nd half!! He's a superb ball winner, never missed a tackle last night & his link up play with the forwards was great too!

[Matt H]

I don't think there are enough games left in the season for Croydon to stay up and they will come across teams that can finish their chances in front of goal better than us. How we did not score in the second half baffles me. If we had scored from the chances created in the second half as well as we did in the first, then we could've seen a six or a seven for us on our results page.

 

Although Croydon had some very skillful forwards, where they were better than more recent opposition is that they actually had some fight in the middle, which I think at times during the second half made us second best, particularly when the ball would bypass the likes of Gameo and fall straight to Curran who had to beat their entire defensive line by himself. That said, I think Curran had more than enough chances to bag at least a brace for himself.

 

I thought the penalty was a bit soft, but then again this is the same Referee who gave us three at Hornchurch.

 

Have to say I was impressed at how well we our wide players linked up on both sides of the pitch at times. Lots of people compliment Rhodes and Dumas together and rightly so, but I think last night the play between Everett and King was quality, especially for Kingy's second goal and I thought we lost that instant link-up a little when Kingy moved into the middle. That said, I thought Leon did well when he came on and was unlucky not to grab another goal himself.

 

Two very difficult away games coming up now. Wealdstone is never an easy place to get a result and Tonbridge are top of the form guide with us right behind them.

[haynab66]

should of won this easily first half was a joy to watch passing and movement were excellent but then we gift them a goal and a penalty and the second half was a struggle and we started to tire but this canvey team battled on for a win the defence giving it everything against one of the fastest front lines ive seen at this level, everyone gave 100% and without that it could of been different, we lost our shape but even then should of had another 2-3 goals as for croydon are these young players they had the ones that turned up for trials when it all went wrong because they were very good individually and at times just seemed so natural and were enjoying themselves, but they wont go down there must 4 teams worst than them, there is one just a mile away from us, we did a lot of running tonight i hope the lads dont tire because we have 2 very hard away games before the easy one, i know the gaffer and TGE were comparing attendances well i was just 5 people out.

[The Great Eckscape]

That was Matt Game at his best, he's a real terrier who players must hate playing against!

 

I thought the referee had a decent game - a complete contrast to the muppet who did the Hendon game!

 

 

[YELLOW]

The second half was terribly nervy but as a game it was good entertainment.

 

Bolarinwa on the right wing for them looked a good player and at times really troubled Ashley Dumas with his pace and skill. In fairness I thought our defence handled him well as more often that not, there was a body there to clear or get a block on the ball.

 

Up until they scored their first goal, we were in total control. Our passing was good and we were finding plenty of space on the wings. Gamo and Dobbo were dominating the midfield and all three goals we scored were great finishes.

 

Robbie King proved he's not just about penalties and did what all good goalscoring midfielders do and was in the penalty area to fire home two good finishes.

 

After they scored their first goal it got a bit edgy and during the final 30 minutes we missed alot of chances to put the game to bed. We seemed to lose our composure in front of goal and rushed shots.

 

Credit to Croydon Athletic, they pushed us hard and made us work for our win. In fairness after they scored their penalty, we defended quite well and they didn't really force James into making a save.

 

The next couple of games promise to be tough but I don't see no reason why we can't come away from them with our unbeaten record still intact.

[Gary D]

That was Matt Game at his best, he's a real terrier who players must hate playing against!

 

I thought the referee had a decent game - a complete contrast to the muppet who did the Hendon game!

[Gary D]

Talking of the ref, did Paul manage to get a photo of him to put in simmo's look -a-like section?

[The Great Eckscape]

I hope so, if so it'll be in the next programme!

 

Good to see you back on here pooch

[The Gaffer from the Rock]

Talking of the ref, did Paul manage to get a photo of him to put in simmo's look -a-like section?

 

 

It should definitely be renamed as there are loads of contributors which is brilliant, the clunge last night was your shout, and it should be as I originally said, CIFC Stars in the Bars!! Credits should be put under the names maybe, TGE, Bestbarnone, Healesy, to name a few. Keep them coming as well, always good for a chuckle!!

 

:applaus: :applaus:

[The Great Eckscape]

Having all said what a decent side Croydon looked, their 2-0 win against then 2nd placed Tonbridge at the weekend seems to backup the view that they may escape the drop. It'll be a difficult game at their place later in the season by the looks of things.