MARK Bentley has challenged Josh Hutchinson to produce more magic after the winger’s fine individual goal ensured Canvey Island registered a 1-0 win over Bowers & Pitsea.

Hutchinson charged forward, beating numerous Bowers players before finding the far corner of the net with 56 minutes on the clock.

And Bentley believes confidence is key for Hutchinson.

The Canvey boss said: “I’m trying to give as much confidence to my players as I possibly can.

“Josh is a player who, on his day, is electric and has all the tricks and flicks.

“He just needs to add goals and that end product.

“I said to him before the game that we need something at the end of your build-up play and it’s fantastic that he went out and produced a bit of magic.

“Hopefully there will be more of that to come because it would be even better if he did something like that during the season.”

The Gulls overcame Rob Small’s Bowers, who are preparing for their first ever campaign in the Isthmian Premier League after running away with the Isthmian North title last term, at Park Lane.

As a result, Canvey maintained their 100 per cent winning record since returning for pre-season earlier this month.

The Gulls beat Hornchurch and Benfleet in the seven days leading up to entertaining Bowers.

But it looked as though Canvey would fall behind as referee Gary Jerden awarded Bowers a spot-kick on the stroke of half-time.

Ade Osifuwa was adjudged to have pushed Lewis Manor to the ground.

However, Bentley’s Gulls were let off the hook as Brad Warner’s attempt from 12 yards went over the crossbar.

Hutchinson grabbed what proved to be the winner after the break and Bowers could not find a way back into the contest as Luke Hirst saw an effort blocked.

And Bentley was pleased with how his side dealt with Bowers’ threats.

“It was a really good performance from us,” added Bentley.

“Bowers are obviously a good side who are very well organised and have a certain way of playing.

“They play very effectively with Lewis Manor up front and we dealt with it well.

“It caused us a few problems in the first half but, overall, I’m worried about ourselves at the moment and not our opponents.

“It was another really positive performance and result.”