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Terrors pulled themselves out of the end of season
doldrums to what was eventually a deserved victory against an Island side who were certainly not just playing out time.
The opening stages belonged to the visitors, who found the home 3-5-2 formation to their
liking. Halle fired over after eight minutes
and soon after a theatrical dive by Dave King foiled a weak
but on target shot from Curran.
After a quarter of an hour of mainly defensive action management shuffled the pack and pushed Matt York into
midfield. Having reverting to the more familiar
442 the changes had immediate results, breaking Canvey stranglehold
and enabling Dean McDonald to carve out his first shot on twenty minutes.
The Gulls' mobile forwards continued to pose problems though and before half an hour was up they had two more opportunities,
a full stretch toe poke was followed by a good move that should have been
finished off by Antoine, who casually stroked his shot over
the bar from just outside the six yard box, where he really should have scored. Ten minutes later and it was the same player and same result, albeit form a much more difficult chance.
In between times, Paul Vines announced his arrival by putting one just wide and then, having got his eye in,
forcing Capleton into a fine diving save, earning a corner.
Just on half time Dean McDonald was played into a gap
in the defence by Billy Marshall and coolly slipped ball past the keeper to give
Tooting a nicely timed lead.
Half Time: Terrors 1-0 Canvey Island
Soon after the restart, Paul Vines latched onto a long through pass,
hooking his shot high into the net to double the
lead. For a while Canvey looked a beaten
side. An Andy Howell free kick was fumbled and lost by Capleton and another quality delivery from the supporters player of the year provided
a chance for Vines as Terrors started to find gaps.
A fine move, started by Hartburn, via McDonald, gave
Billy Marshall an opening, but his shot was just
over. Hartburn himself then had a crack from
well outside the box, just missing the target.
Canvey pulled one back when Gordon was first to a
loose ball in the Tooting area, but Terrors almost
immediately restored the two goal cushion when
Mcdonald forced Capleton into a good low stop which
Vines followed up on, winning a corner.
The goal clearly galvanised Canvey, who rediscovered
some of their earlier endeavour and, much to their
credit, sacrificed both fullbacks in a bid for
parity. However, in a reversal of the first
half, it was Terrors who managed to take advantage of
gaps at the back of a 352 formation and Paul Vines
rounded off the scoring by beating the offside trap
close to the halfway line and calmly slipping his shot
past the
keeper.
A late flurry of home pressure almost added to the
score with Vines shooting over and a goal line
clearance from a powerful Matt York header.
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