GOALKEEPER Harry Palmer was in fine form as Canvey Island claimed a 1-1 draw against Grays Athletic.

The Gulls were looking to follow up their opening day victory over Barking, which saw Palmer save a penalty on his debut, with a second consecutive Isthmian North win.

And, although Frankie Merrifield cancelled out Mitch Hahn’s opener for the hosts, Palmer was needed to pull off some impressive saves to ensure Canvey would not suffer their first defeat of the campaign.

And assistant manager Brad Wellmen, who led the Gulls with boss Danny Heale still serving a stadium ban, was full of praise for the summer signing.

Wellmen said: “Harry has come in and I didn’t know too much about him. The gaffer did his homework on him and he is a good member of the group.

“He made some great saves in pre-season and last week, including the penalty save, and he kept us in it against Grays.

“He is focused, a great shot-stopper and he has made a positive impact.

“Sometimes changing keepers is difficult, but we’ve got him in and Goughie (Conor Gough) is back from injury now, so he’s pushing for his spot and we’ve got two fantastic keepers that are trying to fight it out.

“But Harry is doing a lot of things right and it will be difficult for Goughie to break in.”

Palmer pulled off a fine double save to keep Grays at bay, with Aron Gordon and Shomari Barnwell being denied.

But Grays took a 35th minute lead as Hahn broke the deadlock with an unstoppable strike from 25 yards.

However, Canvey were back on level terms seven minutes after the break thanks to Merrifield heading home a Mitch Gilbey corner.

Alex Stephenson left Parkside on a stretcher, with what appeared a dislocated shoulder, while the Gulls finished the match with 10 men as Jose Figura picked up a groin problem after all three substitutes had been used.

And Wellmen welcomed the point in the circumstances.

Wellmen added: “We’ll take the point considering the way the game panned out towards the end.

“We made two changes and just when you think things are going your way, we got the two injuries and it put us back.

“At the end of the day, we are happy with a point but I think it could end up being two points dropped.”

Canvey Island: Palmer, Pitty, Brown, Figura, Stephenson (Jolliffe 73’), Sheehan, Merrifield, Gilbey, Cox (Collins 65’), Agyakwa (Tuohy 66’), Sykes