Creditable effort (01.01.04)

UNITED returned home pointless from Park Lane on Thursday of last week, despite an impressive performance against the pick of the Ryman Premier.
Driving rain made for difficult conditions in the opening 20 minutes, but United were the quicker to adapt and were twice denied by the excellent Danny Potter in the Gulls’ goal.
However, it was Canvey who took the lead, when Ben Chenery knocked the ball down for Dave Theobald to lash home on 19 minutes.
United fought back and forced another good save from Potter, before Steve Hale finally brought them level on 31 minutes, when he headed home Mark Boyce’s excellent cross at the far post .
In the second half Canvey stepped up the pace and forced two early goal-mouth scrambles, only for Nick Hart to twice thwart close-range efforts.
Chenery then tested Hart from distance, but had his dipping strike acrobatically turned over the bar.
With Hart in such good form, and with only 20 minutes remaining, a 1-1 draw began to look the most likely outcome.
However, after United had a cast-iron penalty appeal turned down, Lee Boylan came to Canvey’s rescue, as he first tapped in a rebound and then walked the ball into the net in added time to wrap up the win.
To United’s credit, the Canvey supports logged on to the club’s fan forum immediately after the match to acclaim the visitors as the best footballing team to visit Park Lane this season.