Match Preview- Canvey Island vs Billericay Town- Logan Rankin

With an Essex derby just behind the horizon, Billericay visit rivals Canvey Island, looking to bring the title race to the last game of the season, which is set to be played next Saturday. With Billericay tasked with battling for promotion to the Vanarama National League South and Canvey requested with a mid-table finish, both teams are still looking for the finish they do so truly so desire. 

Billericay Town 

It has seems that The Blues have had a good season boasting an impressive 81 points- but placed 2nd in the standings, The Blues go into the game with a 3 game unbeaten streak, after Frankie Merrifield netted a brace against Folkstone Invicta back at The New Lodge. Billericay are welcomed to Park Lane with high hopes after they won the Velocity Cup, and wont have any ideas of slowing down anytime soon. They are still with the best and outstanding defensive record, only conceding 40 goals. Femi Akinwande has taken the Isthmian by storm, scoring  14 goals, and being the team's top goalscorer, since joining the club in December.

Billericay have massively improved their away form within the league- the last time they failed to pick up any number of points outside of their home ground was back in January against Dartford when the blues lost 4-0. It looked smooth sailing once Billericay fixed their away form, in despite of that, they would lose 3 home games on the bounce against Chichester City, Wingate and Finchley, and Cray Wanderers. Although they've struggled for home wins in recent times, the club are still in the firm race for promotion.

Canvey Island

In contrast, Canvey have nothing to fight for, as they were confirmed to be in the top flight in the Isthmian Premier fro the 25/26 season, and that makes them an even more dangerous opponent especially at their home ground. Canvey, in similarity to Billericay, have also picked up silverware this season. The Gulls beat League South side Hornchurch on penalties in the Essex Senior Cup Final. Canvey have had a dissapointing defence, while a lacklustre attack has backed them up, conceding 6 goals and only scoring 4 goals in their previous 5 games.

Chris Harris has been a lively spark for Canvey, picking up 12 goals spread across 11 games since the summer. Fan favourite Bradley Sach and skipper Elliot Ronto aren't too far behind Harris, being on 8 and 6 goals respectively. In the Gulls most recent outing, Canvey were denied in a lower table clash against Dulwich Hamlet, where they were met with a 2-1 defeat- with an 89th minute winner being nodded in.

Head-To-Head

An Essex derby is always something to look forward to and already happened this season. Billericay prevailed as 3-0 winner, with Tyrell Miller-Rodney, Tommy Davis, and Arjanit Krasniqi grabbing the 3 goals each. Last season back at The Movie Starr, the stadium was soon renamed to Park Lane, Canvey won 3-0 when 2 blues players were sent marching orders, Adam Leathers and Louie Ramsey. Both players have left the club so hopefully that won't happen again. The now retired Sam Higgins scored his brace last time out and left the play-off hungry Billericay Town down in the dumps. Billericay go into the game with the slight upper hand, with an approximate 54% chance of winning, and Canvey 46% percent.

Familiar Faces

Familiar faces are quite often to find in non-league and surprisingly not too many players in either team have played from the yellows and blues

For The Gulls, Darren Foxley used to play from Billericay in a spell during the 20/21 season after leaving Bishop's Storford, then left the following season for Bishop's Storford straight after.

For the blues, Tyrell Miller-Rodney played for Canvey in 2015, before departing for Staines Town then linking up with Gary McCann at Hampton and Richmond Bourough for a 5 year spell. Moses Emmnauel also featured from The Gulls 13 years ago, back in 2012 on a loan from Dover Athletic. Another player to mark as an ex-Canvey player is Frankie Merrifield, again on loan from Chelmsford before joining Canvey on a permanent, then left for East Thurrock United 2 years later.

Predicted Line-Ups

Billericay go into the game without Richard Asamoah, who suffered a knee injury sustained while on loan at Waltham Abbey, Alfie Cerulli, who damaged his hip in the defeat to Cray Wanderers, and of course Ade Azeez, Jayden Robinson and Stefan Lamacq- because they're all on loan.

Predicted XI (4-4-2): Donkin, Porter, Johnson, Davis, Williams, Miller-Rodney, Paxman, Panton, Long, Akinwande, Merrifield

Canvey go into Bank Holiday Monday without Charlie Hester-Cook, who is still recovering from an ankle injury sustained against Cray Valley (PM), Tom Stephem, Elliot Johnson, and Emmanuel Adebiyi are also unavailable due to injury or illness.

Predicted XI (4-3-3): Mason, Crowhurst, Tinubu, Firmin, Wallace, Ronto, Hubbles, Parsons, Sach, Gilbert, Dorell

Verdict

On paper, Billericay go into the game as favourites but due to the unforgiving strangeness of the Isthmian League any game is just as hard as the very next. Canvey are expected to struggle with scoring only scoring 4 goals in 5 games.

Score Prediction: Canvey Island 0-4 Billericay Town