Wingate claim first November win against Canvey
Wingate & Finchley claimed their first win of the month thanks to this victory over Canvey Island, writes Nikhil Saglani.
Ryman League Premier Division:
Wingate & Finchley 2 Canvey Island 0
Saturday, 15 November, 2014
The game began evenly with both sides enjoying spells of possession, but the visitors had the first notable chance when John Curran volleyed over from the edge of the box on five minutes.
Two minutes later, a headed clearance fell to the feet of Rob Laney just inside the penalty area but his volleyed effort sailed just over the visitors’ crossbar. From the goalkick, Canvey’s Jack Simmons was given space to run at the Wingate defence and his shot was parried wide by in-form keeper Bobby Smith. Six minutes later, Curran had another chance for the visitors but this time his volley flew just wide of Smith’s right hand post.
On 22 minutes, a corner was met by a slight flick from Mike Jones but his effort was cleared off the line by a well-positioned Ronayne Marsh-Brown. Four minutes later, at the same end, a corner led to mayhem in the penalty area until John Easterford’s shot was caught by Smith in goal. This spell of pressure was not merited with a goal and the visitors were soon made to pay when on 38 minutes, a quick, intelligent free-kick from David Knight was met by the head of Laney and the ball nestled in the back of the net for one-nil and gave the hosts the advantage at half-time.
The second half, much like the last two home games, began with heavy pressure from the visitors with Smith keeping out Curran and Isthmail Kamara in the space of four minutes. Once again, spells of pressure from Canvey Island did not result in a goal and Wingate took full advantage. A succession of four corners led to a Knight cross being headed home by the on-loan James Kaloczi to double the hosts’ advantage and provide some breathing space for the Wingate faithful.
On the hour mark, another Canvey corner was met by Easterford but his excellent header was kept out by an equally impressive Smith save. The pressure continued and Wingate attacks were few and far between. A goal line clearance from Tommy Tejan-Sie, who was having another excellent game, and another Smith save kept the travelling fans waiting for their side to pull a goal back. And they thought that goal had come on 78 minutes when Kamara headed over from inside the six-yard box and on 85 minutes, and when Osubu volleyed over from the same distance, summing up the visitors’ day in front of goal. Their inability to finish chances coupled with a second consecutive man of the match performance from Bobby Smith meant that the three points would be staying in North London.
Wingate:
Smith, Weatherstone, Marsh-Brown (Stacey 90+1), Sogbanmu, Kaloczi, Rifat, Knight (Joseph 85), Tejan-Sie, Laney, Graham, Allen (Wright 70). Unused: Muir, Nielsen.
Canvey:
Brown, Carter (Tweddle 82), Dumas, Marlow, Jones, Easterford, Thomas (Agynkwa 63), Chatting, Kamara, Curran, Simmons (Osubu 66).
Unused: King
Attendance:
147
Referee:
Ellis Clark
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