report by Tony Dolbear

Sutton weren't quite good enough to prevent Canvey Island from maintaining their promotion push on Saturday, the Essex side matching Aldershot's 2-0 win at Kingstonian to keep the pressure on in advance of Tuesday's meeting of the top two. On a hard and bumpy pitch which came close to ruining what would on a decent surface have been a good game, U's more than held their own in the first half and with the rub of the green and, in one case quite literally, a kinder bounce of the ball they might have led at half time. The more the game went on, however, the more U's gave the impression of hanging on, and Canvey's superiority finally told with two goals in the last quarter. That unkind bounce frustrated U's hopes of the perfect start after just four minutes as Matt Gray found himself free on the right. Goalkeeper Danny Potter came way outside his area and Gray easily went past him, but with the goal gaping, albeit from some distance, and Mark Watson up in support for the cross, an unkind bobble, and perhaps some over enthusiasm, saw Gray slice the ball well wide. He had another chance before long, this time failing to put enough power in a left foot shot to trouble Potter.

There wasn't much between the teams in the first half, although Canvey midfielder Jeff Minton caught the eye on several occasions, one run ending with a shot that flew just too high. Just as eye catching was another assured performance from Dean Hamlin in U's defence, the highspot being a textbook tackle inside the penalty area on the Premier Division's leading scorer Lee Boylan. Just before half time U's had grounds for legitimate complaint when Danny Hodges, trying to shepherd the ball out for a corner, was shoved in the back quite needlessly by Ollie Berquez. Had either referee Darren Deadman or his assistant Ollie Saliy had the view afforded to those in the stand a penalty would surely have been awarded, but as it was the referee was unsighted and with the players running directly towards the assistant he wasn't in the best position to see the offence. Canvey started the second half with much more purpose, moving the ball around well and stretching U's defence, although Hodges and particularly Ryan Palmer resisted outstandingly well. Tom Dunn showed the form that had earned him the Securicor Player of the Month award form March when he was down well to push away a low Berquez shot, and Boylan sent a volley just too high, but U's stood up to the test and twice threatened on breakaway attacks. Both times Watson's pace and strength took him through, but on both occasions he spoilt the earlier good work by mis-hitting his passes to Gray and then Danny Bolt. The suggestion was that U's were just beginning to come back in to the game, but then a deep left wing cross caused a slight misunderstanding between Palmer and Eddie Akuamoah, and substitute Neil Gregory pounced to fire the ball back across goal for Ben Chenery to react sharply and head past the helpless Dunn. After that, apart from one moment when Hodges closed in on a Bolt free kick but couldn't direct his header inside the post, Sutton never really gave the impression that they could deny Canvey the points. Paul Honey and Craig Brwon both came on but had insufficient time to make any real impact, and indeed Brown had barely set foot on the pitch when Boylan chipped the ball across from the left edge of the penalty area and Gregory settled the issue with a crisp low shot which again gave Dunn no chance.

Sutton: T Dunn, D Brooker, D Hamlin, R Palmer, D Hodges, N Bailey, D Bolt(sub P Honey 83), S Corbett, M Gray, M Watson(sub C Brown 85), E Akuamoah. Sub n/u M Hanlan.

Canvey Island: D Potter, J Kennedy, C Duffy, B Chenery, S Ward(sub R Johnson 78), M Bennett, K Dobinson, J Minton, O Berquez, L Boylan, S Parmenter(sub N Gregory 42). Subs n/u B Brayley, M Graham, A Harrison. Goals: Chenery(68), Gregory(86

Referee: D Deadman Attendance: 643