RESULT | WHITEHAWK 4 CANVEY ISLAND 0
A Harry Bridle hat-trick inside the first hour saw Hawks to their biggest win of the season. The on-loan Gillingham striker, who is now with the Hawks until the end of the season, has scored ten goals in his last eight appearances.
Shaun Saunders named the same side that had won at Dover last weekend, with new signing Jordan Maguire-Drew on the bench alongside Callum Barlow.
Attacking downhill towards the Din in the first half, Imran Kayani looked especially dangerous from the off on the left wing, but it was Bridle who got in on the act after just nine minutes, when he headed an Andrew Briggs cross over Canvey keeper Bobby Mason to give the Hawks the lead.
The Hawks didn’t immediately press home their advantage, sitting back and looking to catch the visitors on the break, with Canvey enjoying most of the possession.
After 25 minutes Joseph Osaghae saved well at the feet of the dangerous Bradley Sach after he had parried a Darren Foxley shot from just outside the box. A minute later the ball was down the other end as Kayani skewed a left foot shot wide after a Charlie Walker effort had unexpectedly come his way. Is was then straight back down at the Sea End as Such headed wide with the goal at his mercy after meeting an Adebiyi cross. That was to be the nearest the visitors came to making a game of it all afternoon.
With the half meandering to a close in time added on, Rob O’Toole picked the ball up in his own half and hit a delightful through ball into the path of Manny Mensah. The diminutive midfielder took the ball between two defenders with this first touch and with his second lobbed Mason to send the Hawks in at the break with a two goal advantage.
The players emerged for the second half to find the Enclosed Ground enveloped in sea mist, but it didn’t stop the Hawks taking the game beyond Canvey within four minutes of the re-start. A short back pass by Elliott Ronto left Mason trying to hurriedly clear. His effort was blocked by Bridle, who then side footed home into an empty goal.
Bridle completed his hat trick on 54 minutes, finishing confidently with a right foot shot past Mason after Kayani had been once more been freed down the left.
At 4-0 up, Saunders rang the changes to give his attackers on the bench a chance of goals: Maguire-Drew, Billie Clark and Charlie Lambert all coming on with 30 minutes left to play, as well as Barlow on for Kayani for the last ten.
As the sea mist slowly subsided, the only surprise was that the Hawks didn’t add to their goal tally, in what was a very one-sided finale. Clark was a constant menace down the right with his pace. He was denied by a last gasp tackle by Ronto after 69 minutes and hit the post ten minutes later after again racing away down the right wing. Lambert got in on the act too, clipping the woodwork with 15 minutes left.
The chances for the Hawks kept coming without any addition to the scoreline. In added time Maguire-Drew placed a left foot shot just over the bar and a minute later Barlow swept a good chance wide after being found at the near post by Clark.
By the time the game ended, the mist had cleared on Hawks biggest win of the season, climbing to 15th place in the league on 40 points. All a far cry from when Shaun Saunders took over with the side rock bottom of the table in late November on a measly 12 points.
Hawks: Osaghae, Wright, Seager, Briggs, Okonkwo, Watson (Asike 69′), Mensah (Maguire-Drew 57′), Kayani (Barlow 80′), O’Toole (Clark 58′), Walker, Bridle (Lambert 61′)
Canvey: Mason, Tinubu (Gilbert 46′), Stephen, Santos-Hurtado, Wallace, Ronto, Adebeyi, Hubble, Sach (Dorrell 78′), Harris, Foxley (Kastrati 78′)
