Cray Wanderers complete their January fixtures on Saturday when the Wands visit Enfield Town in a match between two playoff contenders.
Cray come into the match with an unbeaten start to 2020 of five matches and are 5th in the Isthmian Premier league table after a 2-1 win against Lewes last Saturday with 45 points. Enfield Town though are a very good side and are 7th in the table, three points behind the Wands and have been in and around the playoff area for the majority of the season.
The victory against Lewes came courtesy of an enterprising first half hour which saw a well taken goal from Karl Dent who beat the offside trap to latch onto Mitchell Nelson’s through ball and then on the half hour went two up through Jay Leader’s half volley. Lewes played well themselves and pulled a goal back but despite a fair bit of pressure, Cray could have scored other goals through Rhys Murrell-Williamson who hit the bar twice and through Joe Taylor and Charlie Allen.
After a sapping week, the performances of Nelson, Leader, Allen, Taylor and Dent deserve special mention and also Lewis Carey who in recent games has made a number of fine saves. Seven points out of nine last week was a real team effort to help move Cray into a playoff place.
Cray do face though a very tough month with the visit to North London to face Enfield Town just the start of a sequence which is followed by Horsham (H), Worthing (A), Kingstonian (H), Folkestone Invicta (A) and East Thurrock United (A) all who have title and promotion aspirations of their own.
Enfield Town, last Saturday, celebrated their 1000th match with a 3-2 win at Cheshunt with Billy Bricknell scoring twice and Sam Youngs also on target for Andy Leese’s side.
This was followed up on Tuesday evening with a 1-2 defeat in the Isthmian League Cup, a competition Enfield were the holders of at home to Brightlingsea Regent with ex-Cray Wanderers U18s player, Ken Charles scoring for Enfield Town.
When the two sides met at Hayes Lane in early October it was an early season match classic that Enfield won 5-3 with Muhammadu Faal scoring twice, Charles also scored twice and Joe Payne but Cray played well in attack and goals from Taylor, Tom Murphy and Leader made it a cracking finish to the game. Since then Faal who had scored 24 goals has departed to join League One Bolton Wanderers but Bricknell with 14 goals and Charles with 11 have contributed a lot to Enfield’s season. Enfield Town have also recently made the signing of defender Josh Urquhart from Billericay Town adding more experience to the team.
So far their home record has been good with wins against Bishop’s Stortford (5-0), Corinthian Casuals (3-1), Merstham (2-0), Cheshunt (2-1), Carshalton Athletic (2-1) & Haringey Borough (5-3). They drew with Potters Bar Town (2-2), Hornchurch (1-1), Wingate & Finchley (2-2) and Brightlingsea Regent (2-2) and their only defeats came at the hands of Horsham (1-4), Folkestone Invicta (1-3) and Bowers & Pitsea (0-4).
Away form has been decent too with wins at Leatherhead (2-1), Bowers & Pitsea (1-0), Brightlinsea Regent (2-0), Cray Wanderers (5-3), Potters Bar Town (2-1) and Cheshunt (3-2). They drew at Lewes and Kingstonian and were beaten at Bognor Regis Town, Worthing and Carshalton Athletic.
Enfield Town also had a good run in the FA Trophy reaching the 1st Round after beating Bishop’s Stortford, Thatcham Town and Maldon & Tiptree before losing at home to Ebbsfleet United. In the FA Cup, they reached the 3rd Qualifying Round beating Rushden & Diamonds and Braintree Town before losing at Chichester City.
If the pattern of the October meeting is matched on Saturday, this will be another cracking match and one not to be missed as Cray embark on an exciting run of fixtures that whet the appetite for the next few weeks.
Admission costs: £11.00 adults, £7.00 concs/OAP’s/U21s/Students, £1.00 U16s