Cray Wanderers begin their FA Cup campaign on Saturday afternoon against another  team from Kent when they entertain Rusthall at Hayes Lane in the Preliminary Round.  

The Wands have started the season well winning both their Bostik League Division One South East games and also progressing in the Kent Senior Cup. On Sunday they defeated Whitstable Town 2-0 at home with second half goals from Junior Dadson and Aaron Rhule. Despite having a number of players out injured or suspended, including the centre back partnership of Jay Leader and Mitchell Nelson, manager Tony Russell’s side have only conceded one goal in the first three matches of the campaign and have scored seven.

Rusthall make the trip across the county sitting sixteenth in the SCEFL Premier Division, they have already played one game in the competition this season defeating Wick 3-0 in the previous round to set up this tie. The game was the club’s first ever FA Cup tie in it’s 119 year history, having been promoted to this level in May 2017. On Tuesday night they lost 3-0 away at Corinthian in the league, having won two and lost four of their competitive matches so far this season.

The FA Cup always had an extra edge to it with it’s history and importance, both sides will be looking to progress not just to bag some prize money, but to raise the profile of their club and hopefully test themselves against teams from further up the pyramid in future rounds.

Kick off at Hayes Lane is at 3pm, Adults £10 Concessions £5.