Canvey Island 1-2 Horsham

Match Report by David Powell

Canvey Island's form woes continued on Tuesday evening, as they fell to a 2-1 defeat to playoff chasing Horsham at the Moviestarr Stadium.

It was a third defeat in a row for the Gulls, with a 'chalk and cheese' set of halves - with a better second 45 minutes being undone by a poor first.

Brad Wellmen gave a first start to Reon Smith-Kouassi, and another new face in Sonny Hart - on loan from Swindon Town - also slotted in at the back.

Canvey couldn’t have gotten off to a worse possible start though, as the visitors took the lead after just 52 seconds. Hornets stalwart Lee Harding was allowed to cut in from the right, and with the Canvey defence backtracking, he was gifted the space to strike at goal, with his low effort skimming through a crowd and past Sam Jackson.

They dictated most of the play in the half, with the Gulls seeing wayward passing punished, and the pace of the visitors meaning the defence had to be on their guard when their opponents broke. Canvey's only glimmer of inspiration seemed to be coming down the left, with Hubble and Paxman trying to combine to feed in Sach, but their efforts were contained by the visitors backline.

With the way the half was flowing, it seemed only a matter of time before the visitors extended their lead and on 31 minutes, they did just that. Lucas Rodrigues got a header onto a ball forward, his flick on feeding in Daniel Ajakaiye, with the winger having the pace to charge forward as he beat the offside trap and fired a composed finish home to double his sides lead.

Controversy has been no stranger to Canvey of late when it comes to decisions, and they saw a big call go against them towards the end of the first half. Good work from Jaden Crowhurst saw him break into the box with a sight of goal, but as he raced forward, he was dragged down by a Horsham defender. Despite the appeals for a penalty, the refferee was unmoved - and even produced a yellow card as he adjudged the Canvey defender to have dived.

It meant at half time, the crowd were incensed and the Gulls were still 2 down.

A reaction was desperately needed and two minutes into the second half, they delivered it as they halved the deficit.
A good ball forward from Conor Hubble was perfect for Jamie Salmon, as the midfielder got the vital touch to take the ball past Lewis Carey - game on.

The goal spurred Canvey into life, and suddenly it was they who were dictating the game, stronger in the tackles and asking questions of the visitors defence.

Despite this, Horsham were still a danger on the break, and Lucas Rodrigues in particular was looking to add a goal on to his statistics for the evening, first forcing Jackson into a good save at his near post on 56 minutes, before the keeper kept him out again with an even better one on 58 minutes, tipping an effort over the crossbar from close range.

Canvey continued to come forward as they began to encircle the visitors box. They weren't getting much joy from the officials however, with a number of seemingly clear free kicks waved away and another penalty shout turned down on 75 minutes - this time for Sach, who the refferee also booked for disent.

Their best chances game in the closing minutes as they huffed and puffed, but couldn't quite blow the door down.
First, a fierce drive from Conor Hubble on the edge of the box saw Carey only able to palm the shot away, the loose ball almost falling kindly for Sach but for a bobble to take it away from him.

Then, in injury time, they finally got the ball in the net as Edwards and Sach combined to see the striker tap the ball home - the linesman however, had adjudged Edwards to be offside when he received the ball.

It meant that, despite a much improved second half showing, the Gulls were undone again by a poor first half performance, meaning they are still without a win since February 10th.
They are still 15 points clear of the bottom four with eight games remaining, though with the table below them tightening, they'll need points as an insurance policy to make sure of another season of Isthmian Premier football next season.

That mission continues on Saturday, with Hashtag United the visitors on Non League Day.