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Carshalton Athletic v Cray Wanderers preview
Carshalton Athletic v Cray Wanderers preview

Cray look to bounce back from last weekend’s defeat to Lewes with a tough trip to third placed Carshalton Athletic.

Kick off at Colston Avenue is 3pm.

The defeat at Hayes Lane last Saturday was a setback to Cray’s playoff hopes following a three game winning run but are still very much in the thick of a heavily congested playoff picture.  The Wands are ninth following the midweek fixtures but just five points off fifth placed Hythe Town.

The Wands could be boosted by the return of Danny Haynes following four games out through suspension but despite his absence goals haven’t been a problem with Luke Medley coming in and scoring seven goals in four games.  As Tony Russell told me this week, he didn’t know when he signed Luke from Chatham just how good a player he is and his 22 league goals put him third in the leading scorer race for the Ryman South.   Danny has 26 in 26 games in all competitions and the two options gives Cray a real cutting edge.

It was perhaps too hard to judge Cray too harshly from last Saturday as Lewes played extremely well and deserved their victory.  There were some good performances though with Lea Dawson in particular having a storming game and didn’t deserve to be on the losing side.

Leigh Bremner worked hard as usual up front and was perhaps unlucky before half time when his shot on the turn was pushed away by the Lewes keeper and could have been a key moment.  Also, the character of the team once  again shone through as they attempted a comeback from two goals down once again but this time were unable to get back on terms.

They may have to look to get the best out of playing at Hayes Lane as out of fourteen remaining games eight are at home with all but one against sides vying for the title or playoffs.

Since the turn of the year away form has been decent with four wins, one draw and one defeat and can go to Carshalton confident after having played Peter Adeniyi’s Robins side three times already this season.

There were two games in the FA Trophy both at Hayes Lane which ended in a 3-0 Cray victory after a 3-3 draw.  It was the league game on 15th October that will live longest in the memory in what was possibly the finest Wands performance of the season at home.  Four goals in seventeen minutes either side of half time, two from Danny Haynes and one each from Brandon Scott and Ben Mundele gave Cray a 4-1 win in a feast of attacking football.

Carshalton though will be very tough opponents and have been one of the leading title contenders since the start of the season.  They come into the game 3rd in the league table with 64 points, ten behind leaders Tooting & Mitcham United and have scored an impressive 81 goals which only Tooting & Mitcham and Hastings have surpassed.

Home form has been excellent with some big wins, (6-1 against Chatham, 10-0 v Godalming, 5-1 v Horsham and 5-0 v Walton) and have lost just three times (to Chipstead, Corinthian Casuals and Hythe Town)  at Colston Avenue They also possess the league’s leading scorer, Tommy Bradford who has 27 league goals (29 in total).

Both managers like to play football that is pleasing on the eye and purposeful and know each other well and are good friends.

For 90 minutes though they will look to outwit each other once again and should be a fascinating game for fans of innovative football.

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