Whitstable Town left Badgers empty handed last night after an end to end match which could easily have ended with The Oysterboys taking the points back to the coast.

With both sides struggling to keep possession in the opening 10 minutes, it was the visitors who found their feet first winning a free kick just outside the box which was easily claimed by Andy Walker in The Millers goal.

A few minutes later another free kick on the left was played through to John Ufuah who let fly from the edge of the box past the despairing dive of Walker to give The Oysterboys the lead much to the pleasure of the travelling supporters around the ground.

This seemed to instantly wake up the home side who immediately went on the attack with a shot whistling just wide after good work down the right hand side.

It was an attack down the left side which brought Cray level, after some good work down the wing the ball was crossed for Matthew Warren to fire in a low shot across goal just as Ufuah did a few minutes earlier at the other end beating Dan Eason to make it 1-1.

From the kick off the ball found its way to the impressive Ufuah on the left who played the ball through to Tijan Jadama who instantly restored the away teams lead in the 23rd minute.

The Millers link up play down the left side was working well all they needed was that final touch or piece of luck to bring the scores level again. But it was Whitstable who nearly struck what would’ve been a killer goal in the 37th minute as the lively John Ufuah fired in a shot only to see it palmed away by The Millers Keeper Walker.

As the match approached half time and the announcement of a minimum of two minutes additional time sounded, Cray found an equaliser. Warren converted a corner to grab his second goal of the night.

The second half began with the Whitstable manager in the crowd after being dismissed during an incident surrounding the second goal.

And it was the away side who found themselves under growing pressure as the hosts looked to build on their equaliser and it wasnt long before Eason found himself diving across goal to tip a shot wide.

With the home side stepping through the gears and looking the more likely to score Whitstable regained the lead against the run of play. A quick break on halfway found Aarron Millbank who coolly slotted past Walker to once again send the away supporters off in song and restore the away teams slender advantage.

One thing you can see about Cray in the clubs first season at this level is they arent near the top by luck. They certainly deserve their lofty position and that was proved in a devastating five minutes.

As the air around SE9 grew colder the work rate by the boys in green went up and it was another attack after a Whitstable corner that lead to the home sides third.

Just as Whitstable did in the first half, Cray Valley’s Gavin Tomlin hit the ball into the net much to the delight of the home support to level things once more.

As the SCEFL sides learnt last season Whitstable also learnt a hard lesson as more or less on the final whistle Ryan Elliott-King unleashed a thunderbolt of a shot that would be worthy of watching over and over again to snatch the points for The Millers and send Whitstable home empty handed.

CVPM – Walker (c), Semakula, Smith, Sains, Tumkaya, Gayle, Babalola, Tomlin, Flack, Morath-Gibbs, Warren

Subs Ansah, Elliott-King, Nicholas, Cotter, Osbourne

Whitstable – Eason, Mackenzie, Brown, Girt, Rowe, Bryant (c), Ufuah, Jadama, Millbank, Stannard, Wratten

Subs Spencer, Hards, Mazzone, Etumnu

Officials  Johnathon Creswick, Michele Gallo Neil Keirs 

Attendance 95