Cray Wanderers return to League football on Saturday following a break for cup ties in the first of two games over the Bank Holiday weekend as Molesey make the trip from East Surrey to Hayes Lane.  Kick Off is 3pm.

Cray come into the game following a morale boosting 3-0 win at Thamesmead Town in the Kent Senior Cup on Wednesday night.  With a side including some fine young midfield and forward players Cray turned in a mature performance, scored an early goal through Aaron Rhule and were denied by the home keeper before Rhule’s shot was deflected in by Anthony Adesite in the 77th minute followed by a Ralique Lawrence penalty in the last minute.  Defensively, the pairing of Joe Vines and Jay Leader were immaculate and continued Cray’s record of not conceding a goal on their travels so far this season.  This helped to restore confidence after the FA Cup defeat to Sevenoaks Town last Sunday

Both sides bring unbeaten league starts to the season with Cray drawing both their opening games although it has been perhaps a disjointed start for Tony Russell with players not being available and maybe having to blood some of the younger players earlier than planned.  Certainly in the two league games played Cray have dominated the matches but perhaps not been able to convert that superiority into three points but the performances have been decent enough to warrant hope that wins will start to follow.  There are players that have made strong starts to the campaign especially Karl Dent, Ben Mundele, Michael Frieter and Mitchell Nelson but it is very early in the campaign and there are players that haven’t featured yet still to return.     

The visitors, Molesey are also unbeaten in the league with four points.  They won their opening game 2-1 at home to Horsham, then drew 1-1 at East Grinstead Town with Ross Chalke their leading scorer with two.  Peter Lelliott’s side though also were also beaten in the FA Cup at the weekend where they lost an all Bostik South clash at Walton Casuals 2-1. 

Last season was a bit of a struggle at times for them but they eventually finished 19th in the league table and 12 points clear of the relegation places.

Last season’s encounters saw Cray win 3-0 at Hayes Lane with goals by Sean Roberts, Karl Dent and Bradley Woods-Garness on 1st October, 2016.  The return fixture at Molesey in November ended in a 2-2 draw with Danny Haynes and Lea Dawson scoring for the Wands.  The overall record is P. 10 W. 7 D. 2 L. 1.  The two teams met for four seasons during the Wands first stint in the Isthmian South before Molesey were relegated and returned following promotion in 2014-15 as champions of the Combined Counties League and finished ninth in their first season back in 2015-16.

Cray will be looking to continue the momentum from Wednesday night but with Molesey confident this will be a tricky game for the Wands.  After Saturday, Cray travel to Shoreham for the first time on Bank Holiday Monday.

Admission costs:  Adults £10.00, £5.00 concs/U16s