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Terrors recorded a well deserved first win on the island
against a Canvey side that were too dependent on an offside trap at the back and
who were given precious little chance to show what
they could do going forward. Honours for that
aspect of the performance probably should go to
Mitchel Nelson, pretty much faultless at the back and
a tenacious display from Allan, who battled away
without ever attracting the unwanted attentions of the
officials.
In a cautious opening half hour there was one scare
when Dave King missed an attempted punched clearance
which had to be booted off the goal line boot to spare
his blushes. Otherwise Terrors worked away at
springing the trap, with Parker the chief creative
architect and Paul Vines trying his luck down the
middle and especially on the left flank
Aaron
Goode was also back to his best and had been
clearly targeted as a danger man, being on receiving end of several heavy
challenges, two of which were punished by
bookings. The first of these gave Matt York a
free kick opportunity, but his twenty yarder
flew just over the bar.
Terrors managed to create several chances but were guilty of failing to pull the trigger at the right time. On twenty minutes Vines beat two down the
touchline and crossed low to Goode in the box,
but he to pass to Alan McLeod rather than have a
pot and the opening was lost.
Parkers first telling defeat of the offside trap
came after when he released Paul Vines through the middle, but
the forward showed just too much of the ball
to Capleton, who made a brave save at his
feet. Two minutes later the keeper was
forced to limp off with a pulled muscle -
fortunately not serious, or a result of the
earlier clash.
Terrors finished the half strongly with Simon Parker
firing high from a good position in the box
followed by another Paul Vines inspired wing move that could have been buried by several
Terrors before it was finally cleared off the line for a corner.
Replacement specialist Keeper Richard Bastin - a more than capable
deputy - then produced a fine flying diving
save to deny Vines.
Half
Time: Canvey Island 0
- 0 Terrors
Sensing that there was little to worry about in
the home teams arsenal Tooting became more adventurous after the break, with Hamlin and Byatt
starting to appear more frequently in advanced positions.
The first golden chance was set up by a Hamlin cross that bypassed Parker to find Paul Vines at
the back post, but he pulled his shot across the
goalmouth when he should have scored.
However, Hamlins next delivery did strike gold,
finding Jamie Byatt - also at the back post -
with enough time to firmly drill the ball past Bastin.
The offside trap was now well and truly sprung as the yellow line started to
push forward and also to loose its fragile shape. Paul Vines
started to regularly find himself breaking through
with no flag to call him back and did miss a couple of opportunities before being
played in by lively sub Jason Henry to neatly bury the all
important second goal.
It was not until the 92nd minute that Canvey managed their first on
target shot, which Dave king nonchalantly tipped over the crossbar.
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