Wingate & Finchley 2-0 Canvey Island

From the Harry Abrahams Stadium

Ryman Premier

 

CANVEY Island missed a hatful of chances as the post John Sands era ended with defeat at Wingate & Finchley.

Top scorer and high-earner Sands will undergo surgery on a double hernia in December and left the club last week after a mutual agreement was reached with Canvey.

And they missed him at Wingate & Finchley as the Gulls went down 2-0 in this third successive league defeat.

But they started well, with Harrison Chatting, Jay Curran and Jack Simmons testing the home goalkeeper Bobby Smith.

Goalkeeper Tim Brown was in impressive form, pushing away an effort from Tommy Tejan-Sie, as was Mike Jones who saw a 30-yard effort edge wide before he made a goal saving tackle in his own penalty area.

Chatting cleared the ball off the line to keep the scores level before Ishmail Kamara missed a one-on-one chance.

And, moments later, David Knight's free-kick was met by Rob Laney to head home, with Brown helpless.

After the break, Curran forced Smith into a superb stop to stop Canvey equalising and the keeper later denied Kamara again.

Brown had just kept the advantage to one with a tremendous stop before James Kaloczi headed home the second.

John Easterford was denied, Jones saw an effort cleared off the line and substitute Victor Osobu saw an effort tipped over on a thoroughly frustrating afternoon for Danny Heale's men.

Canvey Island: Brown, Carter (Tweddell), Jones, Easterford, Dumas, Marlow, Thomas (Agyakwa), Chatting, Kamara, Simmons (Osobu), Curran