Another goal from leading scorer Charlie Moone was not enough as Hampton & Richmond Borough crashed 2-1 at Canvey Island thanks to a brace from the hosts' own goal machine John Sands, writes Rob Overfield.

The Beavers started off quite brightly and on seven minutes they got their reward. Belal Aite-Ouakrim played a lovely ball through the back four, for which Moone narrowly beat the offside trap to gather.

His crisp finish past Canvey's goal keeper Josh Vickers into the corner of the net was the finish of a striker who knows he's on form.

 

From this point on, the Beavers made the greater number of attacks, with Canvey looking uncertain throughout.

However, the chances were few and far between with only Joe Turner and Moone giving Canvey's Vickers anything to do and this lack of any thrust was to cost the Beavers dear.

On 40 minutes, the Gulls finally made something happen; a pass from Warren McBean was deflected into the path of Sands, who like Moone, appeared to get the timing of his run just right to beat the offside call.

Sands took one touch and then fired the ball past keeper Rodney Chiweshe.

 

The goal, though somewhat unexpected, had the effect of bolstering the hosts and then up to half time, they looked the better team.

This was carried on in the second half, with the Beavers clearly on the back foot; Sands and Harrison Chatting creating chances that were ultimately wasted.

However, on 57 minutes, the cruelty of football was never more apparent than in the Gulls winner.

A Rio-Edwards cross found its way to McBean, whose shot was blocked. In any other game, this would have seen the ball go for a corner or perhaps rebound back up field, but this time it just rolled across the goalmouth, and with Chiweshe stranded, Sands darted in to force the ball home from a couple of feet.

 

Not 10 minutes later, the hosts could have made the game safe as a Marcus Rose pass was intercepted by Chatting, just inside the Beavers half.

The midfielder broke towards the box, and managed to take the ball around Chiweshe, but his run took him wide and with Hampton defenders dashing back, Chiweshe managed to recover the ball off Chatting's feet by the by-line.

Hampton were stung by this and started to claw their way back into the match. Luke Wanadio blasted a shot wide and with just minutes remaining, Tom Hickey played Moone in behind the Canvey back four.

Those Hampton fans behind the goal must have already been ready to celebrate a certain goal, but the shot was pulled well wide.

 

As Canvey looked for the referee to end the game, they resorted to holding the ball in the corner, frustrating the Beavers.

This had the effect of causing the temperature of the game to rise unnecessarily, spoiling what had been a reasonable match.

In the end, Canvey held on for the three points, and the Beavers were left to ponder what they might have achieved had they converted first half chances.

Canvey Island:
1 Josh Vickers, 2 Rio Bryan-Edwards, 3 Ashley Dumas, 4 Matt Game, 5 Rob Bartley, 6 Mike Jones,7 Jay Curran, 8 Freddie Warren, 9 Warren McBean (James Hawes 85'), 10 John Sands   (Simon Thomas 81'), 11 Harrison Chatting (Sheldon Sellears 76'). Subs: 12 Ellis Sands, 14 James Hawes, 15 Sheldon Sellears, 16 Spencer Bellotti, 17 Simon Thomas

Hampton & Richmond Borough:

1 Rodney Chiweshe, 2 Tommy Brewer, 3 George Wells, 4 Stuart Lake, 5 Marcus Rose, 6 Justyn Roberts, 7 Joe Turner (Tom Hickey 70'), 8 Karle Carder, 9 Belal Aite-Ouakrim (Dan Thompson 60'), 10 Charlie Moone, 11 James Simmonds (Luke Wanadio 71'). Subs: 12 Tom Hickey, 14 Dan Thompson, 15 Luke Wanadio, 16 Reis Stanislaus, 17 Jordan Rocastle