The FA Trophy saga between Cray Wanderers and Carshalton Athletic has finally been decided and it is the Wands that take their place in the 1st Qualifying Round draw following a well-earned and hard fought victory at Hayes Lane.
Cray will now face Marlow in the 1st Qualifying Round this Saturday, 29th October with a 3pm kick off.
After an engaging but at times slightly cagey first half, the deadlock was broken just after the hour with Lee Prescott notching his first goal for the club with a free kick. Danny Haynes later took his total of goals against the Robins this season to six with a brace in the last twenty minutes first from the spot and then with a diving header with two minutes to go.
Cray were unchanged for the fourth straight game and after a bright opening to the game looked a bit jaded after their difficult game at Lewes on Saturday. Carshalton meanwhile fielded some younger players due to injuries and had shown a lot of qualities in the previous two games and perhaps had the better of the opening half.
The Wands began the game on the front foot and in the 2nd minute, a Jey Siva free kick out on the right was flicked wide by Jay Leader. Then a minute later Prescott found Brandon Scott down the right and he cut the ball back to Haynes whose shot went straight to keeper Alex Kozakis who got down to save.
Carshalton though had a great chance to take the lead and probably the clearest chance of the half in the 9th minute when Sekou Kaba and Ricky Korboa combined to set up Mikel Miller who cut in from the right, took the ball round Nick Blue and with a goal looking certain his shot was cleared off the line by Lea Dawson.
Although the game lacked the excitement and thrills of the first game, there was still a lot of good football to admire and ideas and you couldn’t take your eyes off the match. Cray put together a lovely piece of football after quarter of an hour when Prescott found Ben Mundele who made a strong run down the right and laid the ball across to Karl Dent who drove a shot narrowly wide from just outside the area.
For Carshalton, Miller fired a shot just wide from outside the area and they would go on to enjoy some good possession and look the more threatening side for the next ten minutes. Some good play down the left by Jonathan Tadafe set up Joshua Phillips with a shooting chance but he was denied by a tremendous block tackle by the excellent Leader.
Then the lively Miller caused problems again and his strike from twelve yards was parried away by Blue. This was followed by a shot from Korboa which went well wide.
Cray came close shortly after when Dawson found Scott who curled a fine effort which fizzed narrowly wide. Carshalton though could have taken the lead when Miller cut in down the right, into the area and his ball across was turned over the bar by Phillips.
For Cray, Scott set up Haynes inside the area but his effort was blocked and Ben Mundele’s follow up was cleared for a corner. From the corner, Siva’s right wing kick to the far post forced Kozakis to tip over the bar for another corner.
The half then went through a flat phase and became more cagey with Cray having the better possession and the last real action in the half came when Dent found Scott who had drifted into the middle of the park and hit a shot which went just over.
The in the dying seconds of the half, Harrison Street’s cross from the right was headed wide by Kaba.
Halt Time: 0-0
With the game being quite tight, the threat of extra time seemed a real possibility but with too many quality players on the pitch, the game was bound to open up.
The second half did start fairly scrappily but a good run by the hardworking Haynes down the left set up Sean Roberts for a shooting chance which was blocked and turned behind for a corner.
For Cray, Roberts then fired well wide before Carshalton had an opening when Miller found Korboa inside the area but his attempted near post shot was deflected behind for a corner.
In the 62nd minute, the game sprung to life with Cray taking the lead following the award of a free kick twenty five yards from goal. Lee Prescott fired in a shot which went slightly under the body of the goal keeper and crept slowly into the net for his first goal for Cray. His recent displays have been excellent and the goal was just reward for his endeavours.
Carshalton then had a decent spell of possession but Cray were able to repel the Robins attacks and it was Cray who would go on to put daylight between the teams.
With twenty minutes to go, Cray were awarded a penalty when Mundele found Ade Osifuwa who did well down the right to find Haynes who turned inside the area and was brought down by Peter Adeniyi. Haynes stepped up to crash his penalty kick low into the net and give Cray a bit of breathing space.
Carshalton though looked to come back and were very unlucky not to pull a goal back when Korboa found Tadafe who from twenty yards cracked in a shot which crashed against the crossbar and went over.
The game was now stretched and Scott set up Haynes for shot which needed a double block from two Carshalton defenders to deny a third goal.
Carshalton were presented with two free kicks in good shooting positions a couple of minutes after each other. The first from the edge of the area from Miller went wide of goal. This was followed two minutes later with a similar positioned kick and Korboa’s strike was on target but was denied by a fine save by Blue, pushing the ball behind for a corner.
Then Blue did well to keep out another Korboa cross shot as Carshalton looked to make it a nervy last few minutes for Cray.
However, the game was practically home and hosed with two minutes to play when TImi Osidobu was played in down the left and his pinpoint cross found Haynes who steered a fine header wide of Kozakis and into the net.
The last shooting opportunity of the game fell to the visitors who kept on going till the end when Francis Sey bore down on goal and his effort was smothered well by Blue.
In the end, Cray made it through and although 3-0 was perhaps a little hard on the Robins, the Wands were able to step up a few gears when needed and clinched a place in the next round and a first meeting with Marlow.
This was the perfect response to the defeat at Lewes and there was a real sense that Cray have now beaten a good side twice and that it means so much to the players to embark on a good cup run.
Cray: Nick Blue, Ben Mundele (Ade Osifuwa, 64), Jey Siva, Jay Leader, Paul Lorraine, Lea Dawson (Capt.), Lee Prescott, Sean Roberts (Solomon Taiwo, 85), Danny Haynes, Karl Dent (Timi Osidobu, 78), Brandon Scott.
Subs: Bradley Woods-Garness, Jai McKinlay
Carshalton: Alexandros Kozakis, Harrison Street, Jonathan Tadafe, Peter Adeniyi, Jahmahl King, Paris Hamilton-Downes (Capt.) (Oliseh Okuglini, 76), Mickel Miller, Sekou Kaba, Joshua Phillips (Francis Sey, 86), Ryan Healey, Ricky Korboa.
Subs: Sean O’Toole
Booked: Healey
Referee: Nicholas Mackenzie
Assistants: Phillip Dunkley, Joshua Howard
Attendance: 91
Cray Wanderers 3
Prescott 62, Haynes 70 (p), 88
Carshalton Athletic 0