Canvey Island 1, City 0

For once, City were the pre-season warm-up act.

They were the glittering attraction 24 hours earlier at Stambridge but for Canvey Island, the visit of the Bantams was the aperitif to their main course on Saturday.

The Brockway Stadium is bracing itself for the visit of Champions’ League opposition, with FC Twente – the club Steve McClaren steered to the Dutch title last season – heading for the Essex estuary.

They should have been playing Southend but the Shrimpers pulled the plug because of their ongoing financial woes. Their loss is Canvey’s gain.

After the previous day’s eye-opener, City were happy to be playing on a decent pitch against a side who were recently in the Conference.

Now two divisions lower in the Ryman League, Canvey were still expected to pose a proper test for the Bantams.

Peter Taylor again fielded a different line-up for each half. The only change from the starters at Stambridge saw Omar Daley in for Leon Osborne.

Steve Williams was over his illness so there was no second appearance for coach Junior Lewis.

Scott Neilson had “done a Lee Bullock” with a severe grade-one hair cut, courtesy of Louis Horne earlier in the afternoon.

The winger had an extra incentive to stand out – Canvey’s assistant manager Glen Alzapiedi used to be his manager at Ware.

Canvey were not pulling out of any tackles and Tom Adeyemi got up limping after a 50-50 with Kevin Dobinson. Fortunately the youngster shook it off.

Neilson’s through-ball sent Chris Simm scampering clear but he was denied a first City goal by a smart block by keeper James Russell.

Daley and Neilson kept switching sides and as the Jamaican cut in from the left to fashion a shot, he was foiled by a lunge from Jon Edwards. The Canvey midfielder briefly returned after treatment but was soon replaced.

Greg Cohen fired over Lloyd Saxton’s bar from an angle before City should have scored after 28 minutes.

Daley found James Hanson bursting into the box and a neat side-step left the big man with only Russell to beat but he tried to be too precise and lofted wide.

Daley was feeling the force of a few challenges but got up smiling after being up-ended once again – and he should have been beaming when Adeyemi’s pass put him in the clear. The winger closed in menacingly on goal, only to shank his shot over the sparsely-populated terrace behind.

The action seemed to follow Daley like a magnet and another darting run picked out Neilson, who fired into the car park. Canvey were fast running out of footballs.

Gareth Evans announced his arrival with a snap-shot that Russell saved at the near post. Shane Duff then flicked a header into the mix that Jake Speight nearly forced home.

Former Stevenage keeper Russell denied Evans a second time with his legs and then a third during a fine double save. Russell parried Osborne’s shot before somehow clawing away the rebound when Evans looked certain to score.

The keeper’s efforts gained greater significance when Canvey went in front after 59 minutes as Jason Hallett tapped home Cohen’s cross to leave City trailing for the first time in pre-season.

It needed a good save from Jon McLaughlin to prevent a second goal, the keeper tipping Rob King’s header on to the bar after the defender had been left unchecked at a free-kick.

McLaughlin was suddenly finding himself as busy as Russell at the other end and produced another good save from Andrew West’s bobbling long shot which he must have seen pretty late.

Trialist David Syers was left hobbling for a while but it was City’s pride more than anything that was wounded. James O’Brien, who shot for fun at Stambridge, fluffed an opportunity from the edge of the box as time ticked away.

Russell was in the mood not to be beaten and again he had the answer to Evans, diving low to his right to safely smother a well-struck effort from distance.

The keeper then topped that three minutes from time by turning over a Simon Ramsden thunderbolt. Syers thought he had levelled from the resulting corner but his header was scrambled off the line.

City had played second fiddle to FC Twente on the billboards outside. On the pitch, they were put in the shade by a goalkeeping masterclass.

CITY – First half: Saxton, Hunt, Threlfall, Horne, Rehman, Oliver, Neilson, Adeyemi, Hanson, Simm, Daley. Second half: McLaughlin, Ramsden, L O’Brien, Bullock, Duff, Williams, J O’Brien, Syers, Evans, Speight, Osborne.