Kingstonian 2-1 Canvey Island

Kingstonian shrugged off an enforced winter break with a second win against Canvey Island.

Having been denied by a last-minute equaliser by Tooting and Mitcham three weeks earlier to record a derby double, Ks were quick off the mark as Bobby Traynor gave the home side an early goal after only nine minutes.

Bash Alimi then headed in a scrambled goal after 37 minutes to gain the necessary win and a last-gasp goal before the break failed to dull the second half as the Islanders tried to regain parity and Ks broke away for an elusive third goal.

At first the game promised little until Traynor picked up a ball from Carl Wilson-Denis just in front of goal and Traynor slotted in beyond James Russell in the Canvey goal. Minutes later defender Craig Davidson went wide at the other end.

Then Traynor was denied twice in the 13th minute by a resolute defender. Matt Gray's corner on the right provided the chance.

Once again Gray provided the next chance but with a 15-minute gap as his free kick beat Russell and the near post to go wide. However a corner - this time on the left - caused chaos in the visitors' area. Goalkeeper Russell moved towards the ball and was left stranded as the ball moved low in the air until Alimi headed the ball into the now-empty net. This is his first goal since his return.

Sensing defeat the Islanders came back and a curling cross from Greg Cohen found Gabriel Fanibuyan, but the striker shot low and wide.

Then, on the stroke of half-time, hero Alimi became zero as he conceded a free kick for a late tackle on Richard Halle. 30 yards out Kevin Dobinson teed the ball up and shot straight into the goal, high and beyond Rob Tolfrey in goal.

The second half started quietly, with the midfields dominating. Wilson-Denis picked up Christian Jolley's cross in the 52nd minute but the cross then went too far ahead of a diving Traynor.

At the other end Halle headed over from a free kick. Alimi was then denied by deft defending and found himself soon leaving the match as Lee Hall came on after an hour.

A string of chances saw Gray go wide and Jolley denied by Russell and also Wilson-Denis going wide. Chris Moore headed over in between for Canvey.

Tolfrey denied Andrew West and then saw Moore's shot from the corner go over. But Jolley's speculative shot dipped enough for the ball to clear the crossbar narrowly.

However in spite of changes in players neither team could add to the shots on target tally as Kingstonian recorded a worthy win.