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Wingate & Finchley
were knocked out of their final FA competition of the season
by a promotion-chasing Canvey Island side, in a game of two
very differing halves. Despite edging the first half on both
possession and chances, Wingate & Finchley went in one goal
behind at the break thanks to a strike with the final kick
of the half, and this goal set the tone for the second half
which Canvey dominated.
The Blues looked to
control possession and came agonisingly close to breaking the deadlock in the 12th
minute when Daniel Clarke received the ball by the left
bye-line. He muscled his way past two defenders as he drove
into the box and then struck a shot which cannoned back off
the near post as goalkeeper Ricky Wiseman looked on
helplessly.
Both sides were
limited to long range efforts throughout the half as the two
sides were well organised and made themselves tough to break
down. Canvey came close to scoring when a Nicky Rugg
cross-shot was inches out of the reach of the onrushing Leon
Gordon, however this was as close as Canvey came to scoring
as goalkeeper David Lovell was left untroubled thanks to the
solid defence and midfield in front of him. Until the 45th
minute.
As Canvey built up
some pressure in injury time Andrew West fired in a shot
that was heading for the top corner just inside the near
post, and Lovell did well to tip the ball behind. However
from the resulting corner Colin Wall managed to create space
and headed home unchallenged to give the hosts a vital lead.
The second half was a
different story as the home side doubled their lead after 10
minutes. A left sided cross to the far post was not
successfully cleared, and it fell to West in space on the
edge of the area who drilled a low shot back across Lovell.
Canvey controlled the play in the second half as Wingate &
Finchley were shell-shocked by the goals, and a third goal
was scored in the 64th minute, sealing the match.
After Lovell had made an excellent save, Ryan Elgar reacted
first to collect the rebound. He shot with a low drive that
Craig Davidson diverted in to the roof of the net from on
the goal line.
The visitors started
to turn on the pressure now as they had nothing left to
lose. Shola Oyedele sent a bullet header inches wide from a
corner, and in the 86th minute the deserved goal
game. Substitute Daniel Stanton fed in Clarke down the right
flank, he cut inside and sent a rifled shot in at the near
post from a very acute angle. Craig Ellis thought he had
scored moments later but his 35 yards effort that has
Wiseman scrambling just whistled past the post and Canvey
held on for the victory.
Wingate & Finchley;
David Lovell, Bobby Aisen, Guy Helman, Craig Ellis, Shola
Oyedele, James Cole, Mus Dumbaya (Lee Jay 59), Joe O’Brien,
Daniel Clarke, Ahmadou Seye (Dennis Fenamore 59), Hussein
Isa (Dan Stanton 64). Subs: Marc Weatherstone, James
Gershfield. |