After one of the most memorable weeks in the 156 year history of Cray Wanderers, the 46th and final league game of the season ended all square as the Wands and in form Maldon & Tiptree shared the points in an entertaining match at Hayes Lane.
After Tuesday night’s excitement at Bromley Civic Centre and up at Wroxham the Wands could have been forgiven if there was an element of fatigue on the pitch and on the terraces but both teams served up a decent game played at quite a fast pace.
Cray had rather a patched up team up at Wroxham and there were a few changes to that side. The Wands had a pre-match problem with Nick Blue picking up an injury in the warm up and Sam Faulkner came in for his Wands debut. Otherwise the main changes were the return of Elliott Cox, Karl Dent, James Duckworth and Ben Payne with Jay Leader, Ray Powell, Sean Roberts and Leigh Bremner on the bench.
Cray started the game looking confident and played the ball around well on maybe not the best surface at Hayes Lane. They had their first shooting opportunity in the third minute when Duckworth found Michael Frieter who fired a shot just over the crossbar from the right of the penalty area..
A minute later the Wands came close again when Aryan Tajbakhsh’s ball up to Jamie Mascoll was met on the half volley and the ball went wide. Then from a corner down the right, Cray Supporters Player of the Year, Grant Basey put a great ball into the box but no-one was able to get on the end of it.
Maldon in their vivid orange kit had won their last five league games which moved them up to 7th in the table and looked a strong unit and Kieran Monlouis was their playmaker in midfield and looked lively all afternoon.
Their first real glimpse of the Cray goal came in the 15th minute when from a free kick out on the left, Rhys Henry put a dangerous ball into the box which was met by Sam Newson but his header came back off the post.
Cray continued to play good football but Maldon had a bit of purple patch halfway through the half and could have scored three times in a couple of minutes. Firstly, Adam Mills played a delicate ball through to Newson just inside the area but pulled his shot wide. Then a bit hesitancy at the back saw Newson presented with the ball but his shot was blocked by a combination of Faulkner and Payne for a corner. From the corner the ball fell to Newson again but his shot at Faulkner’s near post was parried away by the young keeper and the follow up was blocked by the chest of Lea Dawson.
Cray then started to up their game and on the half hour took the lead with a fine goal. A corner down the left was played by Frieter to Dent who then played the ball back to Frieter whose ball across was cleared out as far as Tajbakshsh just outside the area who hit a cracking volley which crept past Shaun Phillips in the Maldon goal.
The Wands threatened again when a Basey ball into the box found Frieter but he couldn’t get a strong enough connection on the ball and the ball drifted away. For Maldon, Monlouis hit a snap shot from 30 yards which flew over.
Cray came closest before half time to adding to their lead when Dent and Duckworth combined to find Frieter down the right who struck a wickedly swerving shot which narrowly whizzed past the left post.
Half Time: 1-0
Cray made a half time change with Jay Leader coming on for Payne and Cray began the half well with Tajbakhsh firing a shot wide of goal.
Maldon continued to make a game of it and from a free kick out on the left, Monlouis’s ball into the area was only just missed by the onrushing Billy Roast. For Cray, Frieter’s half volley was off target.
Both sides seemed to have a problem with corners and Maldon were unlucky when from a Monlouis curler the ball had Faulkner in trouble and Leader had to clear off the line.
Maldon were starting to look a threat in the game and Kyle Hammond played a decent ball through to Darren McQueen who with time inside the box seemed to take an eternity to make up his mind to shoot and Faulkner had to clear.
Then a corner from the right by McQueen came to substitute Tarryn Allarakhia who fired wide. Then McQueen down the left after a strong run from midfield blazed over from ten yards.
A goal for the visitors looked on the cards and it duly arrived in the 64th minute when Allarakhia turned on the edge of the box and fired home a fine strike which gave Faulkner no chance.
The last twenty minutes was an end to end affair with both teams looking to go for the win. Cray looked fresher at this time with this being Maldon third game of the week. A decent passing move finished with Dent playing in Mascoll who had a good game down the left and from ten yards his shot was pushed behind by Phillips for a corner.
For Maldon, Allarakhia saw an effort blocked and the loose ball was blasted over by Roast. Then Maldon were rather unlucky not to score when a ball was played through to Allarakhia who from seven yards fired in a shot which came thudding back off the inside of the left post.
For Cray a Basey corner found Mascoll who hit a volley over the top. Then as the game entered its final minute, Dent hit a shot well wide.
Cray then forced a corner from which Frieter’s wicked cross was kicked off the line Ben Wyatt. Then Wyatt had to block Dent s close range shot and the Basey’s corner was punched out by Phillips as far as Leigh Bremner but couldn’t get a clean connection and the ball went wide.
It was Maldon who came close to getting a winner when a quickly played free kick by Newson found Allarakhia bearing down on goal but was denied a shooting chance by a last ditch tackle by Tajbakhsh.
In the end the game finished in a 1-1 draw and Cray can look forward to what should be a tremendous if somewhat tense contest up at Harlow Town on Wednesday in the playoff semi- final.
Whatever happens it has been a great season topped off by developments off the pitch this week and we will never forget the 2015-16 season in a hurry.
Cray: Sam Faulkner, Elliott Cox (Leigh Bremner, 66) Grant Basey, Jai McKinlay, Ben Payne (Jay Leader, H/T), Lea Dawson (Capt.), Aryan Tajbakhsh, Karl Dent, Michael Frieter, James Duckworth (Ray Powell, 72), Jamie Mascoll:
Subs: Sean Roberts
Maldon & Tiptree: Shaun Phillips, Kyle Hammond, Ben Wyatt, Billy Roast, Tarik Moore-Azille, Curtis Haynes-Brown, Adam Mills (Jamie Stephens, H/T), Kieran Monlouis, Sam Newson, Rhys Henry (Tarryn Allarakhia, H/T), Darren McQueen
Att: 151
Referee: Michael Lowe
Assistants: James Harding, Carl Smith