Canvey Island 1, York City 1

Unfortunately, for dejected goalkeeper Chris Porter and his York City team-mates, football abides by different rules and Saturday's 1-1 draw, staged in almost unplayable gale-force conditions at Canvey Island, will still count in the club's history books.

Porter's failure to deal adequately with a swirling 76th-minute Canvey corner handed the home side a point when one of the non-League football's deadliest predators Lee Boylan pounced to cancel out Darren Dunning's first goal of the season.

It also meant that City's Conference play-off chasers had failed in their bid to match the club's longest sequence of consecutive league victories - their six straight wins falling one short of Tom Lockie's 1964/65 fourth division promotion winners.

Such is the nature of goalkeeping that Porter, who strives for high standards, will feel that his one mistake was responsible for the end of his team-mates' attempt to emulate their predecessors from four decades ago.

More painfully, he finished the game reflecting on two dropped points against part-time hosts although unfavourable results for some of City's play-off rivals offered some form of consolation and damage limitation.

Porter's aberration arrived after David McGurk conceded a corner when he struggled to contend with a punt upfield which, in less blustery circumstances, the on-loan Darlington defender would have handled with his customary composure.

Canvey winger Dwain Clarke then delivered a flag kick that hung in the air, tempting Porter into an attempted two-fisted punch, which saw the ball spin back off his knuckles and find his unguarded net via Boylan's grateful head.

Considering the margin for error and problems with timing a punch in such conditions, Porter might have been better advised to palm away Clarke's corner and, despite half-hearted protests for a foul at the time, his subsequent dressing room apology later indicated that he knew he should have done better.

The goal was Canvey's first on-target attempt of a game in which City had fashioned the better chances.

Midfielders Mark Convery and Emmanuel Panther both forced saves from home keeper Danny Potter inside the first ten minutes.

Convery then missed an easier chance midway through the first half when, unchallenged in front of goal, he failed to make a meaningful contact on the ball after James Dudgeon had tantalisingly prodded Nathan Peat's free kick towards him.

Andy Bishop also headed way off the mark from eight yards on 34 minutes, perhaps caught by surprise that Stephen Thomas' right-wing cross did not deviate significantly in the air.

At the other end, Canvey's first-half efforts amounted to one Ben Sedgemore strike from 12 yards which sailed narrowly over.

The home side went even closer four minutes after the break when striker Kezie Ibe, cutting in from the left, tricked his way past Thomas and Dudgeon but curled his shot just wide of Porter's post.

City responded by breaking the deadlock on 57 minutes when substitute Jamie Price, playing his first football for three-and-a-half months, fed Andy Bishop down the right channel and City's top scorer displayed close ball control before picking out Dunning, who crashed a right-footed shot into the roof of Potter's net from eight yards.

Bishop then combined with midfield namesake Neal Bishop before driving against a post with Clayton Donaldson, who had strayed into an offside position anyway, failing to force the ball over the line from a yard.

Four minutes later, Porter's mistake saw former West Ham trainee Boylan net his tenth goal in 15 starts this season.

Convery shot wide shortly afterwards before both sides had excellent chances to secure maximum points at the death.

First, McGurk rose unopposed to meet Convery's 89th-minute corner but his downward header bounced narrowly wide.

Then, Boylan stuck out a toe to meet another Clarke cross that had drifted dangerously to the far post but McGurk cleared off the line.

City were still left lamenting two points lost at the final whistle rather than hailing one gained from a 480-mile round trip, which illustrates how far the players' standards and expectations have been raised during the last seven matches and how far the club has progressed since a 4-0 humiliation at the same ground less than a year ago.

Match facts

Canvey Island 1 (Boylan 75)

York City 1 (Dunning 56)

City ratings: Key: 10 - Faultless; 9 - Outstanding; 8 - Excellent; 7 - Good; 6 - Average; 5 - Below par; 4 - Poor; 3 - Dud; 2 - Hopeless; 1 - Retire

Porter 5

Thomas 7 (Price 53, 7)

Dudgeon 8

McGurk 7

Peat 6

Convery 6

N Bishop 7

Panther 7

Dunning 7 (Merris 76)

A Bishop 7

Donaldson 6

Subs (not used): Reid, Hotte, O'Neill.

Star man: Dudgeon - fully-focused perforance in conditions that made concentration crucial.

Canvey Island: Danny Potter, Ben Chenery, Steve Ward, Dave McGhee, Chris Duffy, John Kennedy (Mario Noto 76), Ben Sedgemore, Jeff Minton, Dwain Clarke, Kezie Ibe (Neil Gregory 84), Lee Boylan. Subs not used: Jay Conroy, Allan Tait, Richard McKinney.

Yellow cards: Dudgeon 87.

Referee: Dave Phillips (Chichester).

Rating: One of the best this season.

Attendance: 754.

Weather watch: Dry with gale force winds.

Game breaker: Canvey had not managed a shot on his goal before Porter's unfortunate, wayward punch.

Match rating: Spoiled as a spectacle by the wind.

McEwan's verdict: "They lived a charmed life in the first half but we had chances that we never put away and lived to regret it.

"There were certain individuals who felt it was going to be easy and I told them at half-time that if we didn't pull our socks up we could lose the game and we nearly did."

Player watch: Neal Bishop

Shots on target: 0

Shots off target: 0

Blocked shots: 0

Passes to own player: 20

Passes to opposition: 4

Crosses to own player: 0

Crosses to opposition: 0

Pass success rate: 83.3 per cent

Dribbles ball retained: 1

Dribbles ball lost: 3. Dribble success rate: 25 per cent

Headers: 12 Tackles: 10

Clearances, blocks and interceptions: 6

Free kicks won: 0 Free kicks conceded: 1 Offsides: 0

Yellow cards: 0

Final summary: Despite missing a week's training through illness, Neil Bishop worked hard in midfield and competed whole-heartedly as demonstrated by his ten tackles. He also won his share of headers in the swirling wind and his distribution was reliable with just four stray passes in 90 minutes. Will be disappointed not to manage a shot all match.

Updated: 10:07 Monday, March 20, 2006