Cray Wanderers begin the first of three home games in 8 days on Saturday in what promises to be a classic as league leaders Tooting & Mitcham United travel to Hayes Lane.

Kick off is 3pm.  This will be followed on Wednesday evening against Corinthian Casuals and then on Sunday 29^th January against Herne Bay.

The Wands picked up four points from three successive away games at Hastings, Walton & Corinthian Casuals.  The four points were very well earned with stoic defensive displays particularly at Corinthian Casuals when Cray had to play the whole of the second half with ten men and produced a mature performance to grab a point.  This certainly helped to make up for the loss at Walton Casuals in between where the Wands played well enough for seventy minutes before the wheels fell off before the end.

The performances of Paul Lorraine and Jay Leader were exceptional at Hastings and Corinthian Casuals and Karl Dent with three goals in four games looks back to his sharpest and deadliest in front of goal.  Luke Medley has looked a good buy in the two games he has played and holds the ball up well.  Lea Dawson and Lee Prescott did well in the second half last Saturday and covered every blade of grass to help preserve the point.  The Wands though will be hoping to keep their discipline in check after two red cards in the last two games but otherwise Cray have been pretty good in this department throughout the season so far.

One of the low points of the season came on 5^th November when Tooting & Mitcham inflicted a 4-0 defeat on the Wands and they looked a very good side.  Top scorer Billy Dunn who scored for Tooting that day has since gone to Greenwich Borough but Michael Dixon has fifteen goals to his credit and scored twice against Cray that afternoon.  Tooting & Mitcham are the leading scorers in the Ryman South with 85 goals in 30 games and although they had a little blip in December when they lost three games in a row they have bounced back and are four points clear at the top of the table after the midweek fixtures.

It is has been evident since the start of the season that the Ryman South is a tremendous league with strong clubs that play decent football and a high level of competition.  After seeing nearly every team play (I had a sneaky look at South Park at Greenwich Borough on Tuesday) with just a brief look at Herne Bay, Tooting & Mitcham to me have been the best side we have played and perhaps Frank Wilson’s side warrant their place at the top of the table.

However, Tony Russell’s Cray Wanderers side are more than capable of winning the game and this should be a fine match and test of their promotion aspirations.  With the Wands eight points behind fifth placed Carshalton Athletic you feel that Cray will need to put a run of wins together in order not to fall too far behind the chasing playoff pack.  So there is everything to play for on Saturday and should be a fascinating and exciting game to watch.

Cray fans will remember some good battles with Tooting and Mitcham United in the Ryman South and Premier days which included a playoff final in 2008.

On that occasion Tooting and Mitcham ran out 1-0 winners at home gaining promotion to the Premier.  The Wands would be promoted the following season and would meet for the next three seasons.

The last time the two teams met at Hayes Lane in the league was on 14^th February 2012, 4-1 with Tommy Whitnell scoring a hat-trick on that occasion with Jack Clark also on target.  We have since met at Hayes Lane in the FA Cup 1^st Qualifying Round in September 2014 when a goal six minutes into injury time gave Tooting & Mitcham a 2-1 win in one of Keith Bird’s last games in charge.

The overall record between the two sides is P. 19 W. 6 D 4 L 9.  In 2011-12 Tooting and Mitcham were relegated from the Ryman Premier and have perhaps struggled in recent years.

Last season they finished 17^th in the Ryman South but got off to a flying start this season and were unbeaten in their first ten league games to reach the top of the table.  They then after a mini blip embarked on a ten game winning run which included the win against Cray scoring lots of goals along the way.

Defeat at Greenwich Borough pm 6^th December was the first of three straight defeats which helped Dorking forge a lead at the top but since three straight wins have pushed the Terrors back to the top of the table and have to be considered serious championship contenders.

What this league has taught us is that anyone can beat anyone on any given day and nothing should be taken for granted.