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On a bitterly cold night, Gulls took an early lead but had to come back from 2-1 down with Jason Hallett’s goal earning them a share of the spoils.

Canvey began brightly in front of a crowd of 262 and after recent victories over Lowestoft and Lewes they looked confident on the ball and always threatening in attack.

They took the lead on 13 minutes with Jay Curran grabbing his 7th league goal of the season. Steve Ward was the unlikely provider of the goal when his tackle on the right hand edge of the penalty area saw the ball break through for Curran. Jamie Butler appeared to have reached the ball before Curran but the striker showed great tenacity to beat the goalkeeper and as the ball squirted clear he was able to run through and slot home into the empty net.

Gulls nearly grabbed a second 2 minutes later when Robbie King got on the end of a free kick but saw his header flash inches wide.

Canvey continued to create the better chances with Hallett screwing a shot off target on 24 minutes and John Easterford heading into the side netting from James Comley’s corner 5 minutes later.

Comley was again impressing in the midfield and he instigated many Canvey attacks with his intelligent passing as well as winning numerous tackles.

Met Police gradually became more of a threat and in left back Sam Hurrell they had a player who constantly caused the Canvey defence problems all night.

Hurrell worried Canvey with his direct running and excellent deliveries into the penalty area and kept Ward busy all evening.

On 29 minutes, he broke well down the left and squared the ball to Staforde Palmer whose low placed shot seemed destined for the corner of the net until James Russell got down brilliantly to turn the ball away for a corner.

Hallett was enjoying a fine game up front and he showed his strength and awareness on 36 minutes to hold the ball up and slip a fine pass to Ashley Dumas who broke down the left. Butler came out from his goal and partially blocked the full back’s cross-shot with the ball deflecting across goal but not quite falling to Bradley Woods Garness who was loitering near the penalty spot.

Hallett was again the provider on 42 minutes when he surged past a defender down the left but Woods Garness failed to get a touch to his excellent cross.

The miss proved costly a minute later when Canvey failed to deal with a diagonal ball from a free kick into the penalty area and Steve Sutherland was left unmarked to fire home.

The goal seemed to galvanise Met Police and they were the better side for the first 15 minutes of the second half as they started to get a grip on the midfield.

Their neat passing and movement began to give Canvey problems and Easterford and Michael Alaile had to be sharp at the back to stop the danger.

Russell did well to beat away a volley from Pat O’ Connor at his near post on 52 minutes but 5 minutes later, Met Police took the lead with a well taken goal.

A neat pass by Palmer sent Eddie Smith clear and although Russell got a hand to his strike he couldn’t prevent it from entering the net.

Canvey made an instant response with Alex Rhodes firing in a thunderous drive from the edge of the penalty area that crashed off of the post and away to safety.

Gulls brought on Dean Mason for Curran and the winger immediately got involved in the action with some positive runs down the right wing.

A month or two ago, Canvey may have gone on to lose this match but they showed great determination and fight and grabbed a thoroughly deserved equaliser on 70 minutes with the best goal of the game.

Rhodes and King combined on the edge of the penalty area and King’s cunning pass sent Hallett clear with the striker rounding Butler expertly and firing into the empty net to draw the Gulls level.

Met Police nearly regained the lead two minutes later when substitute Mu Maan flicked Hurrell’s left wing cross just wide from a few yards out.

It was an exciting finish to the game with both teams pushing forward in search of the winner and playing some attractive attacking football in the process.

Another good move from Met Police on 82 minutes saw Elliott Taylor cross from the right to Maan who steered a header towards goal but Russell showed great reflexes to dive to his left and brilliantly push the effort away from goal.

Hallett curled an effort wide after good play by Mason as Canvey looked to claim all three points.

Easterford then came close deep into injury time when he got a boot to Comley’s left wing corner but the ball drifted wide of the far post.

The whistle blew soon after with both sides having to settle for a share of the spoils. A draw was a fair reflection of the contest with Canvey dominating the first half and Met Police edging the proceedings after half time.

On a freezing cold night, this was an entertaining game of football with both teams contributing to an enjoyable match.