Cray aim to bounce back from defeat the defeat to Hythe Town on Wednesday with a trip to Godalming Town on Saturday.

The Wands have been involved in some fine matches so far this season and certainly for 75 minutes on Wednesday night the game with Hythe was up there with the quality already seen.  Cray would have been disappointed not to come out of the game with at least a point as they certainly put in the effort, had chances and came close to snatching a draw at the end but Hythe were very resolute and soaked up a lot of pressure.

There were some notable performances on the night, Nick Blue looked as good as ever in goal, Sean Roberts continued his fine form with a strong performance.  Debutant full back, Jeysiva Sivapthasundaram had a very sound game and delivered some good set pieces which created openings, whilst Jai McKinlay who came on for the injured Paul Lorraine continues to blossom into a classy centre back who rarely gives the ball away and looks very composed.

I think it’s fair to say that our opponents Godalming Town have made a disappointing start to the season, their first back in the Ryman South following their move from the Southern League Central Division.  They currently prop up the table with one point from eight games, which included a 0-10 defeat at Carshalton on Monday night.  Manager, Andy Hunt resigned after the game and has been replaced by Darren Wheeler who will look to steady the ship, so could be an awkward game for Cray.

Godalming were formed in 1950 and have gone under a few changes of name and spent many years in the Surrey County leagues and the Combined Counties League.  They gained promotion to the Ryman league in 2005-06  meeting Cray for the first time the following season.  They finished bottom of the table that season but were reprieved and then moved to the Southern League South and West Division before moving back to the Ryman South in 2008-09.

They had a couple of good seasons in the Ryman South finishing fourth in 2009-10 thus reaching the playoffs where they lost narrowly to Folkestone Invicta in the Semi Final.  In 2011-12 they reached the playoffs again losing to Bognor Regis on penalties in the Semi Final before they were moved back to the Southern League Central and West Division in 2012-13 where they finished third and lost to Biggleswade in the playoff Semi Final.

Since then the club have struggled on and off the field and after finishing tenth last season were moved back to the Ryman South.

Meetings between the two sides have been few and far between with just four games played with Cray winning one, Godalming two and one draw.  The last time we played at Godalming was before Christmas 2008 when the home side won 2-1 with Jamie Kempster on target for Cray that day.  We did play once in the FA Vase at Hayes Lane in September 2002 when they were known as Godalming and Guildford which Cray won 2-1.

Games at this level are never as easy as they often appear and Cray will have to be at their most professional and focused to get the three points on Saturday.

Image courtesy of Keith Last