Canvey Island 4, Grays Athletic 1

GRAYS took to social media to apologise after Saturday's heavy FA Trophy first qualifying defeat along the Thames against Canvey Island, where they were not only well-beaten, but had two players sent off.

The club described the performance as 'disastrous', with the outcome effectively decided in the first half, when the Gulls opened up a three-goal lead.

There was little between the sides for the first 15 minutes, though Grays did show early promise and tested home keeper David Hughes a couple of times.

But the game was beginning to turn Canvey's way when Ross Wall was played through and picked out the top corner from the edge of the area, only to see the linesman's flag raised for offside.

However, the deadlock was broken on 20 minutes when Mitchell May who found the back of the net, after flicking a close-range header over Danny Sambridge from George Scales' pin-point cross. Sambridge may have been unhappy with the lack of tangible marking but there was little the defence could do about Canvey's second goal just after the half hour when Connor Hubble fired home a free kick into into the top corner

Two became three soon after when Grays' defence was all at sea as Michael Finneran's clearance fell to Mitchell May who lobbed the on-rushing Sambridge, who was out of his area.

Hopes of a Grays comeback were sparked early in the second half when Ned Hepburn seized on an opportunity to score from close range after good work by Rob Harvey and Denzel Effah.

Canvey weathered what might have been a potential comeback and 16 minutes from the end Grays' slim hopes were all but doused when left-back Tyler Brampton, having been booked earlier in the afternoon, gave the referee a piece of his mind and a second yellow saw him headed for an early shower.

And the odds against a comeback lengthened massively just a few minutes later when Jordan Clark got a straight red for a poor challenge on ex-Blue Michael Finneran.

The final nail in the Blues' Trophy coffin came when Evans Kouassi came off the bench and, after missing a couple of chances, finally got the ball in the back of the net to round off a thoroughly miserable afternoon for the visitors and their fans.

However, there is a quick chance for some redemption on Monday (31 August) when Blues return to the Island, this time to take on Concord Rangers in the Isthmian North.