Canvey quickly recovered from their midweek 7-0 thumping at the hands of Gillingham with a comfortable win over the Gills' Kent neighbours.

A quick-fire brace from striker Ollie Berquez and a Neil Gregory goal put the Gulls in the driving seat before Berquez got his hat-trick.

And the victory over the Islanders' old Ryman Premier championship rivals from 2001/02 left manager Jeff King delighted.

"It was a great start and I was very pleased," said the Canvey manager. "We controlled the first half very well but in the second half they came out and worked harder."

Canvey started with electric pace and were quickly rewarded when midfielder Ty Gooden floated in a free-kick from the right for Berquez to head home unmarked at the far post after two minutes.

Released Thurrock goalkeeper Alex O'Reilly denied Berquez a carbon copy second goal two minutes later, but defender Craig Davidson sprinted down the left wing and pumped a cross into the box for Neil Gregory to fire home after five minutes.

A minute later the Gulls were well on the way to their first home pre-season win when midfielder Steve Parmenter ran in from the right to set Berquez up for a simple tap in.

Gravesend were limited to speculative off-target shots, with the closest to a goal coming from right winger Robert Owen's long-range effort that landed on the roof of the net after 25 minutes.

The Gooden-Berquez partnership came up trumps again in the 38th minute with the former's through ball from central midfield allowed Berquez to slot home his third past O'Reilly.

After the break Gravesend strengthened their defence with the introduction of towering centre-halves Francis Duku and Adrian Pennock, which reduced the hosts' freedom of the final third.

But at the other end, Gulls keeper Danny Potter had little to do until James Pinnock pounced on a loose ball just inside the area to fire home at the far post for his fourth pre-season goal on 38 minutes.

Published Friday, August 1, 2003

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