Cray Wanderers and Carshalton Athletic will meet again this Thursday in the FA Trophy after an enthralling 90 minutes at Hayes Lane finished in a 3-3 draw.

A game which swung from end to end practically from the first whistle looked to be going the Robins way at half time as they fought back from a goal down to lead at the break.  However, Cray played exceptionally well in the second half and re-took the lead before Carshalton levelled five minutes from time.

Tony Russell had played a much changed side in the Kent Senior Cup against Darford in midweek and Jey Siva, Paul Lorraine, Lea Dawson, Sol Taiwo and Karl Dent returned to the team.   Sean Roberts who went off injured against the Darts had recovered and started the game.

Both teams had been in prolific scoring form early in the season and on a slightly chilly early autumn Sunday afternoon, the game started out as bright as the Amber and illuminous yellow shirts of the two sides.

Both teams zipped the ball around confidently but it was Cray who in the first ten minutes who came close to scoring.

Paul Lorraine who had an immense match, playing in a seemingly free role all over the pitch found Danny Haynes who from almost thirty yards hit a fine dipping shot which narrowly went over the crossbar.

Two minutes later, Carshalton were indebted to their keeper Alexandros Kozakis who twice made fine saves to deny Brandon Scott.  Scott was played in down the right of the area and his first effort was blocked by the keeper’s legs and then the follow up was bravely blocked again.

For Carshalton, Mickel Miller dragged a shot wide and they started to look the part particularly going forward.  Nick Blue had to be alert to rush out as Miller’s fine ball looked for Joshua Phillips and then from a free kick, the ball came to Ricky Korboa whose shot was deflected towards Blue by Jay Leader.

Korboa was having a very good game for Carshalton and made a storming run forward down the left and played in Brendan Murphy-McVey who fired a first time shot which Blue got down well to save.

Then Korboa played Miller in down the right and he bore down on goal but Blue narrowed the angle and did extremely well to block his shot.

The game was flashing by so quickly with barely a moments rest and it was no surprise that a goal should come and it came for Cray in the 27^th minute.  The excellent Jey Siva played a superb ball through to Haynes down the right,who  took a couple of strides forward and placed a cracking finish wide of Kozakis for a goal of real class.

Carshalton though went straight back on the attack and Miller fired over the top.  The Robins were starting to exert some good pressure and Jai McKinlay blocked a Murphy-McVey cross and Leader had to concede a corner from Korboa’s left wing cross.

A goal was Carshalton was on the cards and it came in the 37^th minute.  Good pressing by Carshalton led to good work down the left by Michael Males who played the ball to Murphy-McVey who played in Korboa who finished with a low shot to make it 1-1.

Carshalton came close to a second when Miller was played in by Sekou Kaba but he was denied by a brilliant last ditch tackle by Lorraine.

Cray then went straight up the other end with Haynes beating the offside trap down the left but his curling effort was met by a brilliant one handed save by Kozakis.

This proved crucial as a minute later, Carshalton went in front when Kaba found Murphy-McVey who from ten yards crashed a well struck shot past Blue at the near post.

The Wands had to make a change, three minutes before half time when Lee Prescott came on for the injured Sol Taiwo.

Cray in all fairness could have done with half time at this point as Carshalton were really flying and were happy to go in at the break just the one goal behind.

Half Time:  1-2.

The second half was a different story to the first as Cray set about Carshalton perhaps helped by Prescott’s appearance and looked much sharper although they had to make another change when Ben Mundele came on for McKinlay.

Cray levelled the game in the 51^st minute which stemmed from some patient Wands build up play.  Mundele and Prescott combined to find Karl Dent who put over a fine cross from the left over to the back post where Scott met the ball to power a header past Kozakis’s despairing dive.

This led to a few minutes respite as the game took a breather as Cray dominated the possession with Lorraine, Roberts and Dawson carrying the fight to Carshalton.  Lorraine in particular was popping up all over the place which seemed to peg Carshalton back.

Carshalton though should really have gone back in front half way through the half when Phillips was played through but his close range effort was deflected wide for a corner.

Scott was then denied his second goal when his quick feet took him into the penalty area but his cross shot was blocked and his follow up was cleared by Males although it seemed to hit his arm.

Blue had to get down well to save Miller’s shot from twenty yards as the two teams seemed to want to avoid the possibility of a replay.  Haynes drove a cross shot narrowly wide of goal as Cray looked to retake the lead.

Cray came lose again when Scott beat Bobby Price for pace, tore into the area and saw his shot blocked by the legs of Kozakis.

A minute later in the 77th minute Cray did take the lead with another exemplary piece of finishing by Haynes.  Leader won the ball and found Roberts who delivered a fine ball out to Haynes down the right who lashed a crisp shot across the keeper and into the back of the net.

Cray were playing at their top of their game and Carshalton were just hanging in the match and Haynes drove a shot across goal, then Jey Siva’s free kick found Lorraine but couldn’t direct his effort on goal.

A key moment came in the 82^nd minute when Haynes burst through looking to complete his hat-trick but his goalbound shot was excellently saved by Kozakis for a corner.  From the corner the ball came to Leader but he headed wide.

With five minutes to go though, Carshalton made it 3-3 with something of a soft goal albeit well taken.  A hopeful ball upfield led to indecision between Siva and Blue and Korboa stole in and lobbed the ball expertly over the keeper and into the net.

So the possibility of a replay was back on and in the last couple of minutes Scott hit a strike from the edge of the box Kozakis got down well to save, whilst Carshalton threatened when Murphy-McVey fired wide.

In the end a breathless game between two very good sides ended in a 3-3 draw which means the teams go at it again on Thursday at Colston Avenue and then again in the league on Saturday afternoon.

Whether the entertainment on show can be maintained on Thursday remains to be seen but certainly as games go this was as good at it gets and helps to restore the faith in our rather battered national game.

            

Because of the replay the scheduled league game with Herne Bay on Tuesday night has now been postponed and re-scheduled for Tuesday 6^th December.

 

 

Cray:   Nick Blue, Jai McKinlay (Ben Mundele, 49), Jey Siva, Jay Leader, Paul Lorraine, Lea Dawson (Capt.), Solomon Taiwo (Lee Prescott, 42), Sean Roberts, Danny Haynes, Karl Dent, Brandon Scott:

Subs: Max Williams, Bradley Woods-Garness, Timi Osidobu

 

Booked:  Dawson, Mundele   

 

Carshalton: Alexandros Kozakis, Richard Ismail, Bobby Price (Capt.), Matthew Males (Peter Adeniyi, 75), Jahmahl King, Mekhail McLaughlin, Mickel Miller, Sekou Kaba, Joshua Phillips, Brendan Murphy-McVey, Ricky Korboa:

Subs:  Paris Hamilton-Downes, Kingsely Aikhonbare.

 

Referee:          Scott Williams

Assistants:     Paul Stratton, Rhys Battye               

 

Attendance:   187