Canvey Island 2, Aveley 2

AVELEY secured their play-off place in the Isthmian premier but left the Moviestarr Stadium bemused after blowing a two goal lead in added time tonight (Tuesday, 18 April).

The result means Bishops Stortford are crowned champions after a season-long toe-to-toe scrap with Hornchurch – with the Millers also in the hat until the last couple of weeks of the season.

And it also sets up the intriguing possibility of an exact rematch next week in the play-off semi-final. 

Much of the game was a scrappy affair of very few chances, with the visitors dogged in their defence, stopping Canvey from crafting much in front of goal.

They had the better chances in the first half. A mazy run from Evans Kouassi down the left saw him launch a cross into the area on 31 minutes, but Bradley Sach touched his header wide of the target.

Sach nearly put Canvey ahead on 42 minutes, as he wriggled free on the edge of the box and fired in a shot that beat Jonathan North in the Aveley, but hit the post and rolled across the goal line before being cleared to safety.

The Isthmian Premier table going into the final Saturday.

In an extended period of injury time Aveley took the lead against the run of play. A corner in the final action of the half saw Kenny Aileru head the ball in from a corner.

In the second half and the momentum began to swing in the visitors favour, as they sought a second goal whilst continuously frustrating Canvey at the back.

Bobby Mason was forced into a good save from Oli Coker on 64 minutes, a strong hand forcing a driven strike wide. The pressure would tell however and on 74 minutes, Aileru seemed to have won all three points for Aveley when he picked up the ball on the right, cut inside and fired a low strike past Mason.

However, Canvey found a lifeline in the 90th minute, when a cross from the right dropped kindly for Kouassi, who showed great technique to fire in a first time volley that flew past North.

Aveley were rattled and the points were shared in the 94th minute when Conor Hubble thundered a shot from a tight angle on the left of the area, through a crowd of players and past North who barely had time to react.

Saturday's relevant fixtures: Herne Bay v Bishops Stortford, Kingstonian v Hornchurch, Enfield Town v Aveley, Canvey Island v Lewes, Haringey Borough v Cray Wanderers.