Cray Wanderers play the first of back to back home matches to finish March on Sunday with a crucial match against Bowers & Pitsea at Hayes Lane.

Kick Off is at 3pm.

Cray go into the weekend fixtures in 19^th place on 32 points but could go down one place to 20^th depending on Brightlingsea Regent’s result vs Carshalton Athletic on Saturday. Cray are level on points with Regent but Cray have a better goal difference. The Wands are currently a point behind Merstham in 18^th place who play Hornchurch on Saturday while Wingate & Finchley are 17^th on 35 points. Bowers & Pitsea who are unbeaten in their last five away games are 16^th with 36 points.

Grant Basey’s side picked up a big win on the road at Bognor Regis Town last Saturday where an early Sam Wood header and two clinical Chris Dickson strikes won the game 3-2 after a Bognor fightback early in the second half. The win was even more crucial as the three teams below Cray, Brightlingsea, East Thurrock United and Leatherhead all won. The teams that finish third bottom in the Step 3 leagues vie to avoid relegation via a better points per game average.   

With four of the seven remaining league games at home, Cray will be looking to pick up valuable points on Sunday to continue Saturday’s momentum.  There were some very good performances at Bognor with not just the veterans like Wood, Dickson and Anthony Cook having great games, also Joe Wright has been superb in goal and the likes of Freddy Barton, Kasim Aidoo, Luca Albon, Nazir Bakrin and Narcis-Florin Filip all had great games and helped see Cray over the line.           

This has already been a history making start to the season for Bowers & Pitsea as Rob Small’s side made national headlines by reaching the 1^st Round of the FA Cup and victories against Arlesey Town,  Bishop Stortford, Hornchurch and Aldershot Town saw them visit League One Lincoln City in the 1st Round and were narrowly beaten, 0-1.  Bowers & Pitsea are also through to the Essex Senior Cup Final after wins against Great Wakering Rovers, Chelmsford City, Braintree Town and Coggleshall Town and meet Billericay Town in the Final on April 12^th.

The two teams met at the Len Salmon Stadium on 30^th November and finished in a 1-1 draw as an Anthony Cook blockbuster in stoppage time cancelled out Lewis Manor late first half opener. In their last outing on Saturday, Bowers were beaten 2-3 at home to Folkestone Invicta with goals from  Manor and Michael Ademiluyi.   The only previous meeting at Hayes Lane was on 2^nd October 2019 when Cray won 3-1 with goals from Andre Coker, Joe Taylor and Tom Carlse. 

Bowers & Pitsea’s away form has been pretty good with wins at Brightlingsea Regent (3-2), East Thurrock United (2-0), Leatherhead (2-0), Cheshunt (1-0), Corinthian Casuals (3-0) and Bognor Regis Town (2-0). They drew at Bishop’s Stortford (2-2), Carshalton Athletic (0-0), Horsham (1-1) and Folkestone Invicta (2-2) and were beaten at Worthing (1-4), Merstham (0-4), Potters Bar Town (0-2), Hornchurch (0-1), Wingate & Finchley (0-2) and Enfield Town (1-3).  At home they beat Wingate & Finchley (3-1), Horsham (1-0), Haringey Borough (2-1) and Brightlingsea Regent (3-1), drew with Bognor Regis Town and Cray Wanderers and lost to Leatherhead, East Thurrock United, Kingstonian, Corinthian Casuals, Lewes, Bishop’s Stortford, Margate, Carshalton Athletic, Merstham, Enfield Town, Potters Bar Town and Folkestone Invicta.  Leading scorer is Lewis Manor with 20 goals.

With so much riding on the game for both clubs this could be a tense if exciting afternoon but also a good football match.  Admission £10 adults £5 concessions/U16s on gate (cash only) or online at www.cray-wanderers.com/tickets