CANVEY ISLAND 1 WITHAM TOWN 1

Ryman League premier division

A late goal for hosts Canvey Island left Witham Town deep in relegation peril towards the foot of the Ryman League premier division table.

It was another point they took from a 1-1 draw, but being pegged back in the latter stages of the game meant they slipped into the bottom three and are now five points from safety with three left to play.

Witham made just one change from the side that had drawn 0-0 with Dulwich Hamlet on Good Friday, with striker Harry Cook coming into the line-up in place of John Watson.

The previous meeting between the two Essex rivals had ended in dramatic fashion with Witham snatching a point with a last-gasp goal by Watson That draw and the manner in which it came made it feel like a win for Witham at the time but the intervening two months had left them battling to stay in the division.

Witham knew that three points could be vital and made all the early running with most of the play in the first ten minutes being directed towards the Gulls’ goal.

The home defence remained solid in the opening exchanges but they were nearly undone by a cross from the left by Tom Wraight that was headed inches over by Kurt Smith.

Cook then let rip with a thunderous shot from 25 yards that had home keeper Tim Brown beaten but it flashed past the post.

Canvey did pose more of a threat as the half wore on though, with the height and presence of Enoch Showunmi causing problems from set pieces and Taylor Hastings had to be alert to block a one particular goalbound effort.

It stayed goalless at the break, but Canvey came out with more purpose after the restart.

Only the combined efforts of Danny Emmanuel and Kurt Smith prevented a flicked effort by Steve Smith from sneaking in from a corner.

However, the deadlock was broken at the other end when an awful back pass let in Kurt Smith who squared the ball to Cook, who had the simplest of tap-ins.

The goal seemed to really rock the Gulls and their attacking threat vanished in the aftermath of Witham’s strike.

However, they saw off some pressure from the visitors and rallied themselves for the final push and a great strike from Marlon Agyakawa got them back on level terms in the 84th minute.

That was how it stayed and Witham knew two valuable points had slipped from their grasp.