Kingstonian 3 - 0 Cray Wanderers

On a fairly mild late September afternoon Cray who began the match in 18th place were looking to build on two successive wins in the league and Kent Senior Cup and from the side which beat Cheshunt last Saturday into the side came Jamie Mascoll and Tom Penfold for the injured Will Wood and the suspended Cameron Black.  

Cray have begun a few recent away games on the front foot but was never the case here as Kingstonian totally dominated from the start.

Firstly, Mark Waters found Rudy Allen whose smart half volley was saved by Shaun Rowley.   Then Allen became provider and set up Eddie Dsane which was pushed onto the right post by Rowley.

Still in the first ten minutes Kingstonian were causing all sorts of problems down the wings and Rio Campbell down the right hit a shot at the near post wide.

Then Dsane and Campbell within seconds were denied by good saves by Rowley and the goal was starting to have a charmed life.  

The only real concern at the other end was from a George Porter effort which was hooked over the bar from twenty yards.

Still Kingstonian were looking the more likely scorers and Campbell saw an effort held and Rowley saved again to deny Dsane.

A goal had to come and in the 23rd minute Kingstonian got the goal they deserved when Campbell was put through to work his way down the left of the area and calmly slot into the net.

It was nearly two a couple of minutes later when Dsane hit the post and the follow up came to Campbell and his shot was pushed over one handed by Rowley.

For Cray perhaps the nearest to stemming the tide came when from a Sam Wood corner down the right the ball to the far post was met by the head of Jack Holland but clipped the outside of the post and behind.

Before halftime Andy Somo floated a cross shot across goal for Kingstonian but at the break it was probably of some consolation for Cray that it was only 1-0 to the home side.

For the start of the second half Anthony Cook who made his 100th appearance for the club on Tuesday night came on for Lee Lewis.

There was certainly more zip from the Wands at the start of the second half and almost levelled ninety seconds after the restart when down the right Gary Lockyer played a ball to the near post for Porter who turned the ball wide just wide of goal.

Kingstonian still looked dangerous and Campbell saw an effort blocked by a combination of Holland and Rowley.

At the other end veteran K’s keeper Rob Tolfrey was called into his first piece of serious action when he had to dive down to save a fierce drive from David Ijaha and turn the ball aside.

Yahya Bamba came on for Cray but Kingstonian continued on the attack and Zack Chislett’s cross was turned wide by Andy Somo.

However in the 64th minute it was 2-0 when down the left substitute Darnell Goather-Braithwaite found Somo just on the edge of the area and his overhead kick was able to find its way into the net.

Perhaps one of the big things to take out of the game was the appearance off the bench of 16 year old winger George Brooke who made a star turn against Phoenix Sports on Tuesday night to make his league debut for the last quarter of the match.

In the 73rd minute the match was practically done and dusted when a ball forward bounced into the path of Goather-Braithwaite down the left and despite the best efforts of Tom Penfold got into a shot which gave Rowley no chance and made it 3-0.

Cray looked towards the end to grab at least a consolation from the game and Porter fired over the top.  Then from a corner down the left from Nyren Clunis played into the box was glanced by Penfold and came off a Kingstonian defender past the right post for another corner. 

Then a cross from Jamie Mascoll down the left was headed by Lockyer wide of the left post.  The final action saw Yahya Bamba make a run and shot which was held by Tolfrey.

Kingstonian though had played very well and thoroughly deserved the victory to move them to 18th in the table and scored three very well taken goals and there could have been no complaints if the score had been doubled.

For Cray this was something of a setback after some much better results and performances in recent weeks and this was probably just one of those games you try to forget about very quickly and move swiftly on to the next match. The Wands do not have to wait long as on Tuesday night Cray head to Concord Rangers to face another side in the bottom four.

Cray Wanderers:   Shaun Rowley, Lee Lewis (Anthony Cook, H/T), Tom Penfold, Jack Holland (Capt.), Jamie Mascoll, David Ijaha, Sam Wood (Yahya Bamba, 61), Ellis Brown (George Brooke, 66), Nyren Clunis, George Porter, Gary Lockyer:  Sub:  Reggie Rye

Att: 190