Canvey Island took a large step towards securing a place in the F. A. Trophy Final with a surprisingly comfortable win over Conference opponents Chester on Saturday.

The Essex side dominated the match from the first whistle. Indeed Chester were somewhat fortunate that Canvey converted only two of the numerous chances they created.

Despite holding the upper hand in the early stages it wasn’t until the 28th minute that Canvey finally made their superiority count when Steve Tilson fired them ahead after getting on the end of a Chris Duffy cross.

Canvey continued to press after the break and doubled their advantage in the 73rd minute when substitute Wayne Vaughan crashed home a 25-yard pile driver less than a minute after joining the fray.

The other semi-final was a much more keenly contested affair as the teams ended the day all-square after a four-goal thriller at the Lawn.

On a difficult pitch in wet and windy conditions it was the away side who opened the scoring when Rob Elmes (pictured) netted from a Matt Clarke cross in the 27th minute. Rovers notched a deserved equaliser on the hour mark when a delicious chip from Frank Bennett beat Cooksey in the Hereford goal all ends up.

Hereford regained the lead when Elmes notched his second goal of the afternoon powering home a header from Tony James’ cross in the 78th minute.

Rovers hit back to equalise almost immediately when Alex Meechan converted a penalty awarded by the linesman. So the teams travel to Edgar Street on Saturday with everything still to play for.