CANVEY Island warmed the hearts of their supporters with a 3-0 win against Brightlingsea Regent at the Movie Starr Stadium.

The match went ahead despite the freezing conditions which led to Brightlingsea boss Brett Munyard wanting the game to be postponed.

But Gulls boss Brad Wellmen felt it was the right decision for the clash to go ahead.

“I was talking to Brett their manager during the day and I was shocked with how well the pitch was,” said Wellmen.

“It’s not icy, it’s soft and if anything it’s probably too soft and was cutting up.

“He was shocked when people hadn’t seen the pitch and we’ve had no snow on the Island.

“I think it was more the safety concerns of people getting here but if the pitch is as good as this why not play the game? It’s crazy.”

Once the game went ahead, Jamie Salmon fired Canvey into a first half lead with an excellent effort just outside the penalty area.

Goals from Joe Paxman and Evans Kouassi made sure of the victory in the second half.

And Wellmen was pleased with how his side dealt with a potentially difficult evening.

“It was always going to be a difficult one with the temperature and a team coming here who are fighting for their lives,” said Wellmen.

“In the first half they caused us a few problems but some of them were of our own doing.

“They took us into wide areas and tried to get at us.

“It was nice to come in with a 1-0 lead at half-time and we could regroup.

“But in the second half I thought we were in control of the game.

We got two goals and probably had opportunities to get another couple so overall I’m really pleased with the performance.”

Canvey, who were promoted from Isthmian North last season, now sit fourth in the Isthmian Premier standings.

And Wellmen is happy with how the season is shaping up “I’m impressed but we knew what we were capable of,” said Wellmen.

“Coming up we had a good mentality and we kept the majority of that squad around.

“We’ve added three or four in good areas and said to ourselves, lets get to Christmas and see where we’re at before setting ourselves goals.

“It’s been frustrating in the last five or six weeks because we’ve had good results and haven’t been moving.

“We’ve been sixth, seventh or eighth and mentality wise it was getting tough to keep going.

“But tonight another reason we wanted the game on was because it was an opportunity to go up to fourth.

“We’re going into a good Christmas period with our confidence high.

“We can now sit down at the end of the year and set our goals but we’re not here to make the numbers up.”