Canvey Island preview

Four games - in four different competitions - within the space of a week is enough to take its toll on any team and Wingates 100% record in the first three matches was brought to an abrupt halt on Saturday, as Vanarama Conference South side Weston Super Mare brushed past the Blues to proceed to the 4th Qualifiying Round of the FA Cup, denying Wingate the chance to go one stage further than their now three-time club record. Despite the loss the team remain resilient and will look to bounce back against Canvey Island, the players eager to overturn a controversial defeat handed to them in the reverse fixture two weeks ago to the day. With the sides separated by just one solitary point going in to the game, a tight contest was always going to be on the cards. Ahmet Rifat had given Wingate the lead 10 minutes in to the second half, the defender trying his hand at being a striker when he sidestepped his marker inside the box and tapped the ball low in to the corner of the goal, but with 20 minutes left it was Canveys defender Richard Halle who levelled the score, tapping home a loose ball following Bobby Smiths original save. With a share of the spoils looking the likeliest result, Canveys top goalscorer Martin Tuohy stepped up in the 89th minute to handle the ball past Smith into the Wingate net. Protests from the players, dugout and stands fell on deaf ears with fingers being pointed directly at referee Adam Crysell and his officials. With defeats against Grays Athletic and Ipswich Wanderers knocking them out of the League and FA Cups respectively, Canvey have had a much quieter fixture list than Wingate since the last time the sides met - just one match against Brentwood town last weekend, resulting in a 1-0 home victory in which Tambeson Eyong scored the only goal of the game for his fourth of the season. Eyong, however, will have some job to do to catch Martin Tuohy at the top of their goalscorers chart, with the striker hitting the net 12 times this campaign. With Wingate still in the middle of a tough fixture schedule (this game comes as their fifth in a 9 day period), they will need to draw on all their mental strength to not only put Saturdays FA Cup defeat behind them but to regain the excellent form they showed in the matches that preceded it Match Preview by Andy Gerlis