Croydon and Canterbury City battled out an entertaining 1-1 draw at a sunny Croydon Arena on Saturday afternoon, a result that leaves The Trams in the play-offs and sees City end their current spell in the SCEFL Division One finishing one place outside the play off zone in sixth.
The Trams went into the game with an outside chance of winning the league, but needed a victory and other results to go their way and they started looking a little nervous with City having the better of things.
Mo Cham forced two early saves from Alex Nika and as the visitors continued to press he put another chance wide and then saw Nika make a brave save at his feet soon after.
Cham then had a free kick saved by Nika, before Croydon finally started to settle. Tom Barton had a free kick saved for the home side, but it was as they started to look to come into things that Canterbury went in front when a Cham corner was volleyed home by Luka Radojevic from ten yards out.
The Trams rallied from there with Joedon Gugas-Cowin firing over from a corner and Kanan Fitton having a shot saved by Tom Benham, but their efforts were thwarted going into the break.
The second half saw Croydon start well, Barton had a low drive saved by Benham, before they did draw level on 54 minutes when a set piece came out to Barton who found then net from the edge of the area to make it 1-1.
Canterbury then got back into the game with Cham having a shot saved and Connor Coyne was superb with his hold up play leading the line all game for City.
Both sides struggled to get the ball down and play on a bumpy and dry pitch, but with time running out Croydon pressed once again looked to win the game.
Despite the pressure, every cross into the box was comfortably dealt with by Benham and when they did get a shot away Barton’s effort was blocked by Harry Maher.
Dan Lawrence almost won it for Canterbury late on with a volley that went just over from a corner and the last effort on goal for the Trams saw Alfie Clark head a free kick wide as The Trams just came up short.
A draw was probably the fair result on the day, with Croydon now preparing for the play offs, while Canterbury City begin life in the Kent County League back in their home city.
Croydon – Nika, Lewis, Friend, Cormack, Deakin (MacMillan 84), Barton, Clark, Reber, Fitton, Spellward, Gugas-Cowin. Subs Not Used: Rufus, Jacubowski, Asafu-Adjaye, Pope-Campbell.
Canterbury – Benham, Radojevic, Hark, Obiangwe, Brisley, Maher, Cham, Sikirwayi, Coyne, Jobe (Dodds 64), Williams (Lawrence 87). Subs Not Used: Smith.
Goals – Croydon Barton 54mins – Canterbury – Radojevic 26mins.
HT 0-1 FT 1-1
Att: 170