Cray Wanderers returned to league action after a two week break with a hard fought victory at Herne Bay.  The win gained by Luke Medley goal forty seconds into the second half was enough to move Cray up above Hastings United back into 9th place in the league table.

The game will not live long in the memory and was a times a rather scrappy affair that belongs in the ugly win folder with Herne Bay’s chances dealt a blow when Kane Phillip was sent off for a second bookable offence just before the hour.

The Wands last game was on 14th January and since then Leigh Bremner has re-signed for the club and there was also the bonus of Grant Basey’s first game since September.

The first half was fairly lacklustre with Cray’s best opportunity coming in the 11th minute when Bremner hit a shot which went just wide and Basey curled a free kick over the bar.

Herne Bay who also hadn’t played for a couple of weeks had the better openings of the first half and Kane Phillip had a close range shot blocked and then Tamer Hassan forced a fine save out of Nick Blue.

The second half though saw a lot more action and immediately after the break, Cray took the lead.  In the 46th minute, Karl Dent played a ball through to Luke Medley who strode on and although his first shot was saved well by Jack Delo, he followed up sliding the ball into the net past Michael Turner on the goaline for his first goal for Cray.

Karl Dent tested Delo after a surging run before Phillip was sent off in the 59th minute for a second bookable offence.

Herne Bay played with more commitment with ten men and Cray struggled for a short while to make their man advantage but in the end controlled the remainder of the game.  Mundele forced a good save from Delo and then Dent fired just over the bar in the latter stages.

Cray though had done enough to win the game and now move on to another Kent derby on Saturday at Sittingbourne.     

Cray:   Nick Blue, Ben Mundele, Grant Basey, Jay Leader, Paul Lorraine, Lea Dawson (Capt.), Sean Roberts, Karl Dent (Jai McKinlay, 84), Leigh Bremner (Dane Luchford, 85), Luke Medley (Brandon Scott, 76), Jey Siva:  Subs:  Timi Osidobu

Att:  181