Gulls triumph!

Canvey Island is a lovely place to watch football when the sun is shining- and we had been promised the appearance of our largest nearby celestial body at tonight’s Pitching In Isthmian North Division Play Off Final between the Gulls and Brentwood Town. Unfortunately not all promises come true, so we had to hope that the game would warm us up, but ninety minutes before the ninety minutes everyone queuing for food or the bar, or sitting on the large open terrace, seemed filled with sunshine of their own. The occasional container ship sailed into view to delight those ground hoppers who had arrived for the opportunity of just such a photograph, the laughter of children in the park that sits between the ground and the waterfront was audible across the pitch, and our evening was bright despite the clouds, whilst the scent of burgers frying filled our nostrils as the world occupied our other senses.

And then the match kicked off, and such was our attention to the action that the Martians could have landed on the sea wall and played the greatest hits of Dr Feelgood, and nobody would have noticed.

Play Off’s are both joyous and cruel. The need for victory in such a match is so all-encompassing that even the most common football activity- you know, the one where the spectators stare at their phones for at least forty five of the ninety minutes- is abandoned during them. A successful season and a disappointing one are separated by a hairs breadth. The nerves, both on and off the pitch, are so apparent that if the manufacturers of nail clippers relied predominantly on the football crowd to deliver their revenue at this time of year, they’d go out of business.

For once, the two sides facing off in the Final were the right two, if only by the fact that they’d finished second and third in the table, separated by three points. The natural order of things would be that success wasn’t entirely a lottery, and on this occasion it was as if it had been earned over thirty eight games, rather than just one win on Tuesday night.

We expected a game with lots of goals. The fact that the aggregate score during the last two meetings between the sides was four-four, the fact that in Tom Richardson and Evans Kouassi we had our two primary candidates for the Division’s Golden Boot, and perhaps the fact that the hosts had scored more than one hundred goals this season, made us believe that this wasn’t going to be a dour goalless draw, nerves or no nerves.

So many people had come to watch that kick off was delayed by ten minutes, but once everyone had crammed into the ground and we’d had the obligatory pre-match huddles, the home side, in their traditional yellow, got us underway.

It was the visitors, in blue, who had the best of the early exchanges, but much of the crowd wasn’t watching anyway, as they were busy trying to find a place to stand. They’d just about sorted themselves out when Town took the lead, and of course it was Richardson who scored, pouncing on a deflection after a cross from Ashley Nzala to fire past Bobby Mason in the Canvey goal. Suddenly the ground was silent, apart from the pocket of visiting fans at the far end, who were going rather bananas. The hosts responded, and Price, the man who you’d want the ball to fall to, fired over from twelve yards. Rob Harvey, at right back, was particularly busy at both ends, one moment making a tackle, the next firing wide of the Canvey goal.

In the tenth minute there was a let off for the hosts. Mason Hall tried to head back to his keeper but his header was nowhere near strong enough and Nzala got between them. His attempt to chip Mason was, luckily for the hosts, not high enough and the save was simple, but the pressure was all being applied by the away side.

On fifteen minutes we nearly got an equaliser, but it would have been fortunate for Canvey. A ball played back to Harry Girling in the Blues goal was driven only against Price, but with the keeper beaten it bounced just past his left hand post.

The next chance came to the visitors, and to Nzala, but he was stretching to reach it and could only send it towards Mason, who saved easily. A moment later Harrison Chatting came closest to levelling, walloping a shot from distance that was blocked on the line- and out for a corner- by Matthew Cripps.

The game then slowed down a little, the visitors continuing to have the lions share of the play. Which, of course, was the key for that man Kouassi to come to life. He’d tried three runs down the right and each time ended up on his backside, but the fourth was a dream, turning the left back inside out before firing an inch perfect cross to the back post for Price to head home. It was a goal from the moment the cross left Kouassi’s boot, and it raised the nose levels in the ground markedly. The home fans, loud in the early stages, suddenly awoke from their slumber. Price almost gave them more to cheer about, firing wide when he perhaps should have done better, Two minutes later another exceptional Kouassi cross, a shot from Siva blocked just in front of the line, and it was the hosts entirely in charge. The whistle blew for half time, and an entertaining half came to an end.

The break saw a change for the visitors, Charlie Kendall off and Connor Hogan on, and the game restarted at the same, frantic pace. The first ten minutes were end to end but brought no chances, and then the Blues took control, with a succession of corners and some frantic Canvey defending. We reached the hour mark, however, with no further score, but no lack of effort. This had not become a nervous stalemate, and we certainly weren’t resigned to extra time. There was no shortage of excitement for the two thousand, five hundred and thirty two present.

Into the sixty eighth minute and Canvey made a defensive change, Mason Hall going off to be replaced by Miles Mitchell-Nelson. Hall had seemed troubled by his hamstring for much of the game and it was a surprise, if that were the case, that he’d lasted this long against a relentless Town attack. Hall was quickly joined on the bench by Jamie Salmon, injured, visibly upset and replaced by O’Shane Stewart.

Price placed another shot wide, across the goal, creating the chance for himself, and it was Canvey’s turn to have a spell, Price at the centre of their efforts, but again, the decisive goal didn’t come. It nearly came at the other end, Harvey cutting in and forcing a save from Mason, and then we had fifteen minutes remaining.

More Brentwood pressure, more corners, and then it was ten minutes remaining, then five, and then the home side earned a corner with two minutes left. Excitement behind the goal, then a sigh of resignation as it came to naught. A Kouassi shot blocked by a defenders legs, a board saying three added minutes, and then Brentwood had a corner. The Blues are good at finding late goals- could they? Another corner, two of the three minutes gone, keeper held. Rob Girdlestone booked, a free kick, one last chance? No. Extra time.

Canvey were soon on the offensive again, Kouassi and his dancing feet earning a corner. Price then had the ball in the net, but he’d first removed it from Girling’s hands and a free kick was given. George Craddock went off for Brentwood after a knock, Josh Gray replacing him, and almost immediately the Blues then made their last change, Jai Reason off for Daniel Ogunleye. Canvey responded with their final change, Elliott Ronto off for Bradley Sach, and the pace, understandably, slowed. Tired legs or risk averse? Perhaps a bit of both.

Into the last seven minutes, and a marauding run from Ogunleye was brought to an illegal end just outside the box. Harvey got the ball around the four man wall, and time stopped for a moment, before it banged into the perimeter boards just outside of the post.

And that was the last action of note. Penalties.

Canvey took the first one- Hubble- scored. And then a save, Bobby Mason down to his left. Advantage the hosts, for the first time tonight. Two-nil, Kouassi. Second Blue penalty, nearer the sea than the goal. Stewart, three-nil. Richardson made it three-one, but Price stepped up to win it. Could he? Pandemoniam, and some people are on the pitch. Lots of them, in fact.

The match won’t go down in history as a classic. But it will go down in history for the Gulls, and the fact that it wasn’t a classic won’t be remembered at all. All that will be remembered is that Canvey are back in our top flight for the first time since 2017.

And that, over the course of the season, it was a triumph that was thoroughly deserved.

Images now added from three of our fabulous photographers. Headline image courtesy of Nashy Photo, the crowd on the pitch courtesy of Alan Edmonds, and 'Beer Boys' courtesy of Stadium Photography.