A much needed win for Canterbury City today which was reasonably straightforward as a brace from Harry Bradford saw them ease home.
They retained possession well against an out of form Greenways, but although City were comfortable for large parts of the game, if either of the strikes that rattled their cross bar while it was still only 1-0 had gone in, there might have been a different outcome.
In the end though, after that and City doubling their lead soon after, the hosts huffed and puffed but in truth, try as hard as they might, Greenways always looked more likely to concede a third than score a first to get back into the game.
City gave debuts to Ed Harvey in goal and Alex Wilson up front, while Joe Nelder returned for the first time this season after a long injury absence. They started well and were handed two early opportunities with a couple of attacking free-kicks, both taken by Leo Dodds, the first curling away from the angle and the second safely pouched by home keeper Dan Stevens. City were retaining the ball well and knocking it around neatly and their opponents didn’t really see a sight of the City goal until the fourteenth minute as Farai Maganga struck wide of the far post via a deflection for a corner.
It was mainly City though from an attacking sense and Luke Illsley saw his shot ricochet kindly for the keeper before a couple of other promising moves were broken down by an offside flag. Although Andy Pierce headed over at the far post for Greenways, it was City looking the more likely to score and they duly did so in the thirtieth minute when Rob Lawrence lifted the ball over the defence and Bradford ran through unchallenged and calmly slid the ball past the advancing Stevens for 1-0 to City.
The last part of the half got a bit scrappy and lacked any fluency as four yellow cards were handed out and there was a couple of injury breaks as well that eventually led to seven and a half minutes of added time. That aside, Illsley powered through to the edge of the box but was dispossessed as he went to pull the trigger, while at the other end, two efforts from Greenways had keeper Harvey flying across his goal, as Maganga went a yard wide, while Oscar Saxton was a little closer – just a foot or so wide of the opposite post.
City finished the half on the attack with a long range Lawrence shot going awry but at half-time, they still had the one goal lead.
City started the second-half positively with Dodds and Monty Saunders combining to set up Lawrence, but he lifted his effort over the bar, while Bradford nearly got his second, sprinting through the home defence again chasing a through ball, but although he just beat Stevens to it and managed to poke it past him, it also rolled past the post as well.
Another Lawrence effort, this time from outside the box cleared the Greenways bar again, while at this stage, the hosts were making very little progress up front themselves as James Stewart could only manage a shot that did dribble through – but straight to Harvey.
Things weren’t looking great for the home side, but suddenly they almost opened the game right up when Tom Reardon crashed a twenty-five yard free-kick against the City angle and as the ball came back out, Lewis Cook drove it straight back in, rattling the cross bar again before the ball bounced down and away before Reardon followed it up with another fierce shot that was charged down by a City defender. Any of those efforts on another day could have hit the back of the net, and as the home side continued to claim that Cook’s effort had actually crossed the line, the officials remained unmoved as Greenways were left vociferously ruing their luck or indeed, lack of it!
Before the hosts could build on their sudden impetus, City effectively put the game out of their reach when Lawrence was tripped in the box as he took on Illsley’s through ball and without too much hesitation from the referee, a penalty was awarded. There weren’t too many complaints either from Greenways though, as Bradford stepped up and confidently fired the ball low and just inside the post despite the keeper’s dive and City had doubled their lead to 2-0.
That seemed to knock the stuffing out of the hosts and from then on they desperately tried to get back into the game without any real success. City made some changes and suddenly had the fresh legs of Harry O’Donnell and Mo Ali chasing everything down and disrupting the Greenways play. Nelder volleyed a spinning ball wide, while the impressive Liam Cormack fired over for City after some good work down the right between Bradford and O’Donnell.
Bradford then curled a shot just wide, before Harvey made probably his only meaningful save of the afternoon as he reacted in a flash to deflect a snap shot from Simon Walton over his bar from a tight angle. From the resultant corner, Saxton rolled a weak effort wide as Greenways were looking less and less likely to trouble the scorers!
At the other end, O’Donnell went close as his shot took a slight deflection that made it glance off the outside of the home post before Illsley broke through and forwent an opportunity to shoot to set up Ali, but the substitute had strayed offside before he put the ball in the net and the goal was disallowed.
City were looking in control and although Stewart shot straight at Harvey in the dying moments, Greenways never looked likely or capable of getting themselves back in the game once the disappointment of the double cross-bar strike had enveloped them.
A clean sheet and a morale boosting victory for the team and the supporters, but it’s another tough cup tie that now awaits them next Saturday when City face Premier League Rusthall at home in the Kent Senior Trophy – the third cup tie in a row where the club have faced higher league opposition!
Final score here though: Greenways 0 Canterbury City 2
City: Ed Harvey, Luka Radojevic, Liam Cormack, Danny Keyte, Teddy Nelson (Ben Binder), Leo Dodds (Joe Nelder), Luke Illsley, Rob Lawrence (Mo Ali), Harry Bradford, Alex Lewis (Jake McCarthy), Monty Saunders (Harry O’Donnell).
Images courtesy of Ian Ralphs