Canvey Island 2, Chester 0

Apr 2 2001 Chester Chronicle Series

CHESTER need to claw back Canvey Island's two-goal lead from the first leg on Sunday if they are to reach the FA Umbro Trophy final.

Goals in either half from skipper Steve Tilson and substitute Wayne Vaughan gave the Essex men a handy lead to take to the north-west.

Both sides acknowledged that Canvey won the first leg comfortably and had it not been for keeper Wayne Brown, who pulled-off a string of fine saves, could have won even more convincingly.

Islanders boss Jeff King says: "We were outstanding and should have won the game by more. Their goalkeeper was their man of the match and but for him, we'd have been going to Chester with double our lead."

King's says his side exceeded his expectations at the weekend. "To be honest, I'd have settled for a one goal lead", he says, adding "obviously, I'm not stupid enough to think the tie is already over, but they do have to score three times and stop us from replying to go through." 

Winning by a three-goal margin or more is something which Chester have done only three times in all competitions this season.

City, who stand eighth in the Conference, are not prolific scorers, having hit the net only 41 times in their 33 league games - a lower tally even that that of the bottom club, Hednesford Town.

But Chester will be heartened by a memory from their FA Cup campaign as they came back from a 2-0 deficit to beat Nationwide League second division Oxford United 3-2 in the second round.

City manager Graham Barrow pulls no punches about his side's performance in Essex. He said: "We've got to consider ourselves lucky at the halfway stage. Canvey were worthy of their two goal lead - they looked a side good enough for the Conference on paper and in the first leg, they proved worthy of it on the pitch too.

"We chose an inopportune time to give our worst performance of the season - we seem to have hit a funny patch at a very bad time. But for Wayne Brown it could have been 3-0 or 4-0 on Saturday and we could already have been out."

Barrow feels his side getting off lightly in a way encourages them for the return leg.

"We're almost lifted by the fact that it could have been worse and the belief that we won't play that badly again," he said.

"We feel if the result had been 0-0 or 1-1, we'd still have had to come back and win the second game. While we know we have a big task, we don't think a two-goal deficit is insurmountable.

"The players were very disappointed with themselves after Saturday but have been very honest since then and we feel we can put the record straight."

He pointed out that the first leg result will mean a reversal of the sides' roles for the return.

"We're the underdogs now and the pressure's on them. We have nothing to lose and it's all or nothing really. We'll have a good crowd behind us and probably the strongest squad we've had to pick from for a long time."

Midfielder Chris Blackburn, who missed the game at Park Lane with a foot injury returned for Tuesday night's trip to Dover Athletic.

The task of Barrow's men will not be eased, however, by the fact that Canvey have now played six games - nine hours of football - in the league and FA Umbro Trophy without conceding a goal. They have suffered only four losses in the league this season and have never been defeated by more than a one goal margin.

Only leaders Farnborough Town have conceded fewer that the Gulls' 22 goals in 28 league games.

Canvey stand second in the Ryman League, 19 points behind Farnborough, but with five games in hand on them. Reaching The Final would be the most noteworthy achievement yet for a club who only joined the Ryman League Third Division from the Essex Senior League in 1994-95 and whose victims this season already include Nationwide Second Division Port Vale in The F.A. Cup and Conference top half teams Stevenage Borough and Telford United in The F.A. Umbro Trophy.