Emirates FA Cup First Qualifying Round, Saturday 2nd September
I was over at Park Lane for the second weekend running although this time it was to see landlords Canvey Island and not tenants Benfleet, and the hosts were welcoming Lowestoft Town to their gaff for an Emirates FA Cup First Qualifying Round contest as the competition was now at it's third stage of the early rounds.
Canvey were entering the cup at this stage as they are at Step Three, the Isthmian Premier, of the non league pyramid, and after a shaky start to their league campaign, losing three of their first four outings, they got their season back on track with a 3-1 win over Island rivals Concord Rangers on Bank Holiday Monday, giving themselves a huge boost heading into this contest.
They were up against Isthmian North side Lowestoft Town, who travelled from the most easterly point of the UK of course, the Suffolk side had began their season unbeaten having won two of their first three league outings and had also netted a thumping 4-0 win away at Corby Town in the previous round of the competition, so despite them being a level below their opponents today, they would have fancied giving them a decent game and pulling off a result.
And with this being the third time these sides had played each other in the FA Cup, with the visitors winning both contests, their was even more cause for optimism amongst the visiting players and fans, and the opening half hour suggested this was to be a very tight contest, but then Evans Kouassi produced a moment of brilliance to break the deadlock and hand Canvey the lead just past the half hour mark, cutting inside and somehow beating one man after another before sending an effort beyond Luke Holt in the Lowestoft goal.
It was still a tight contest though, but just before half time the visitors shot themselves in the foot and gifted the hosts a second goal, a ball played back towards their own goal was short and allowed Bradley Sach managed to nip in ahead of the intended recipient and run clear through on goal before slotting past Holt and into the net, it was such a poor time for the visitors to concede and they had been duly punished to the max as Canvey went into the break two goals to the good.
The next goal was crucial, and if the visitors could find one then the contest could swing their way, however, they didn't find the next goal, as Canvey swept forward and the ever impressive Kouassi produced more magic down the left before squaring across the box for Conor Hubble to apply a superb first time finish into the bottom corner, and that was pretty much the killer goal in the contest if truth be told, and left the visitors a mountain to climb now.
Lowestoft to their credit kept trying to play and attack as much as they could, but the hosts were keeping them at arms length and when they were getting chances down the other end were looking more than likely to add to their tally, and with sixteen minutes remaining they did just that when a free kick from Luke Deslandes was flicked on to the back post where Jamie Salmon was waiting and had the easiest task of converting from close range.
That prompted a chant from the visiting fans of 'we can't defend, we can't defend' which was slightly amusing, and rather ironic as Lowestoft had only conceded two goals all season till this point (four games) so this was certainly not usual for them, they were up against a much higher class side here today though, so this has to be factored in as well, but two minutes later those fans did have something to cheer when they did pull a goal back after Harvey Sayer's free kick took a slight nick off a defender, beating keeper Sam Jackson, and prompting a chant of 'we've scored a goal, we've scored a goal!!!' from those visiting fans, at least they had a sense of humour still!!!
Lowestoft did have a decent spell after this and had it gone 4-2 you never know, but if truth be told Canvey always looked like they could up it a gear or two if needed, and after they saw off a brief spell of pressure had the last laugh in this one by netting a fifth in stoppage time when Deslandes grabbed a goal of his own by thumping an unstoppable effort past Holt to cap a decent day for the home side.
So, that's two wins in a week for Canvey now, and they progress into the next round as a result of today's performance and victory, Lowestoft gave plenty in this one but found a clinical Canvey too hot to handle ultimately, they now will look to see if they can gain promotion back to Step Three for the remainder of the season, and a possible return to Park Lane next season against Canvey in the league perhaps. Who knows.....
Full time Canvey Island 5 Lowestoft Town 1
Great game of football for you
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