When Aldershot beat Canvey Island 1-0 at the Rec in November, George Borg's side looked to be real championship material.

How things have changed since then. Hampshire rivals Farnborough have opened up a massive lead and it is Canvey who have a mathematical chance of pipping them for the title, leaving Aldershot to fight for a place in the top three.

Aldershot, however, are enjoying a resurgence. Having drawn with Farnborough on Easter Monday, they romped to a 3-0 win at Chesham two days later and were in confident mood for the trip to Essex.

Canvey, who meet Forest Green in the FA Trophy Final on May 13, have almost matched Farnborough's consistency, winning 13 out of 14 games before Saturday, including eight in a row.

But they were given a fright by Aldershot who scored after just 10 minutes at Park Lane.

Home fans in a crowd of nearly 900 were stunned into silence when Richard Gell and Stafford Browne combined to put Mark Graham clear on the right and he finished clinically with a shot into the far corner. It was only his second goal for Aldershot.

After that, it was backs to the wall for Aldershot as Canvey applied relentless pressure, earning no fewer that 11 corner-kicks.

But Aldershot defended with great fortitude and the home team had only one clear-cut opening before half-time, Neil Gregory's header from a Steve Tilson corner being cleared off the line by Mark Bentley.

However, relief came for the Islanders when they equalised 10 minutes into the second half. John Kennedy gave the valiant Stuart Searle no chance with a tremendous first-time shot into the opposite corner.

Canvey were desperate for all three points, but Aldershot again closed ranks and allowed their opponents only one real sight of goal before the final whistle. Searle again proved his worth with a boot-level save to foil Wayne Vaughan.

Aldershot: Searle, Kirby, Chewins, Coll, Adedeji, Pye, Graham, Bentley, Abbott, Browne, Gell. Subs (not used) Hathaway, Holsgrove, Lloyd.

Referee: P Crossley.

Attendance: 861.

Chesham have bid £4000 for Wayne Andrews, but Aldershot want more money for the striker who was suspended by the club last month.