Canvey Island were well beaten by an impressive Grays Athletic by three goals to nil at The Frost Financial Stadium on Tuesday evening.
On the night the visitors had far too much pace and ability on the ball far Canvey to handle, with Grays extending their unbeaten start to the season and ending the Gulls’ three match winning streak.

The table toppers started the match in confident fashion with Dumebi Dumaka warming the hands of former-Grays goalkeeper Conor Gough with a shot from the edge of the box towards the top corner after three minutes

Dumaka came close soon afterwards when he got his head to a good ball from the right wing by Blues captain Kenny Beaney to the far post. His header was full of power but unfortunately for him off target with the ball flying inches over the crossbar from six yards.

Conor Gough was called into action once again on eight minutes when Nathan Ferguson hit a decent shot from just outside of the box which Gough did well to turn behind for a corner diving to his left.

Having weathered the early storm Canvey started to settle into the match. Jay Curran had a shot go wide from the edge of the area on 18 minutes. The ball wasn’t far away from the head of Martin Tuohy on it’s way to drifting a couple of yards wide of the target.

Two minutes later Wilson Carvalho unleashed a dipping and swerving strike from 25-yards which had Grays goalkeeper Lamar Johnson rooted to the spot as the ball whistled past the top corner.

Canvey created another chance on 29 minutes when a clever short corner saw Glenn Poole play the ball to Ashley Dumas who returned possession. Poole delivered an excellent left footed cross to the back post which found the head of Steve Sheehan, but Lamar Johnson did well to block the effort with his chest.

Bradley Tomlinson had a good opportunity to break the deadlock on 31 minutes. Referee Lee Forrester played a great advantage following a foul on Joao Carlos which allowed Tomlinson to skip the ball past Conor Gough, but his touch was too heavy and Canvey were awarded a goal kick.

Grays took the lead on 35 minutes through the ever dangerous Joao Carlos. The pacy winger drove in from the left wing and drilled the ball low across goal and into the bottom corner to put the visitors 1-0 up.

It was nearly 2-0 three minutes later when Lawrence Yiga dwelt on the ball in the centre circle and was robbed of possession by Dumebi Dumaka. The striker advanced towards goal with only Conor Gough to beat, but the tall goalkeeper managed to pull off a vital save and then pounce on the loose ball to spare Yiga’s blushes.

The second half took a little while to spring into life, with Grays building steady pressure and Canvey looking to break on the counter attack.

The first real action of any note came on 65 minutes when Lawrence Yiga was adjudged to have fouled Dumebi Dumaka just inside the box. The referee was a long way away from the incident and waited before getting much closer before awarding a penalty instead of a free kick.

James Stevens stepped up and blasted his spot kick straight down the middle to double Grays’ advantage.

The points were secured ten minutes later when right back Jey Siva delivered a fantastic cross from the right wing which Dumebi Dumaka headed across goal and in to seal a league double for Mark Bentley’s side against the Gulls.

The margin of victory could have been greater in injury time with substitute Lamar Reynolds dancing through the home defence before clipping his shot wide and Conor Gough turning a goalbound shot from Dumebi Dumaka over with the last touch of the ball.