Cray Wanderers are back on the road on Saturday 18th February following back to back home matches as 5th placed Wands visit 8th placed Hastings United.  Kick off 3pm at Pilot Field.

Cray returned to 5th place on Wednesday night after a hard fought goalless draw with Folkestone Invicta in what was the Wands’ twelfth draw of the season and after picking up four points from the two matches have 51 points from 31 games played.

The Wands came close to picking up three points in the second half with Dan Bassett hitting the bar and firing just over and through Yahaya Bamba but perhaps the main positive was another resolute performance from a very young back four with Jalen Jones and Freddie Carter in the middle excellent for the last three games, the two full backs, Jephte Tanga and Bailey Akehurst impressing.

Also Shaun Rowley was possibly most the fans choice for man of the match reached double figures for clean sheets for the season with an assured display.  The Isthmian Premier record for Cray is fifteen clean sheets in the 2010-11 season.

Dan Bassett and Tom Derry both scored last Saturday against Carshalton Athletic and have taken their total of goals to 12 and 10 respectively for the season.

Neil Smith’s side have perhaps surpassed expectations this season but as the season goes past mid February are very much in the race for promotion in what is turning out to be the tightest Isthmian Premier competition in many years with at least twelve maybe thirteen teams all believing they have a chance of at the very least extending the season by another few days via the playoffs.

Hastings United are definitely one of those sides in with a shout and after a run of three games without have since won their last three matches against Folkestone Invicta, Corinthian Casuals and on Wednesday night, a professional 3-0 win at Kingstonian with goals from Ryan Worrall, David Smith and Freddie Legg. 

Hastings who made their return to the Isthmian Premier for the first time since 2012-13 are eighth in the table on 48 points after 29 games and with 25 goals only Hornchurch have conceded fewer this season.

The match pits the only two sides to win the Isthmian League South crown and when the sides met at Hayes Lane on 21st September United won a rather dour encounter 1-0 with a second half Ben Pope goal.

The last meeting at Pilot Field was in the Wands Isthmian South championship season on 16th March 2019 with Hastings winning 3-2 after Cray went two nil up through Archie Johnson and Joe Taylor but goals from Sam Cruttwell, Davide Rodari and Jack Dixon won the game for the home side but didn’t really make too much of an impact on the ultimate destination of the title.

Gary Elphick’s side have been fairly solid at home this season and have beaten Brightlingsea Regent (4-1), Kingstonian (1-0), Carshalton Athletic (1-0), Haringey Borough (4-1), Corinthian Casuals (3-0), Lewes (2-1) and Folkestone Invicta (2-1) and drawn with Canvey Island (1-1) and Margate (0-0). Their only defeats at home came at the hands of Aveley (1-2), Bishop’s Stortford (0-1), Potters Bar Town (1-2) and Hornchurch (0-3).  Away from home Hastings won at Cray Wanderers (1-0), Wingate & Finchley (4-0), Haringey Borough (3-0), Margate (2-1), Brightlingsea Regent (3-2), Corinthian Casuals (2-0) and Kingstonian (3-0).

They drew at Folkestone Invicta, Lewes, Bognor Regis Town, Horsham and were beaten at Hornchurch, Billericay Town, Enfield Town, Aveley and Haringey Borough.  Hastings recently signed on loan striker David Smith who was a prolific marksman for Folkestone Invicta from Bromley to add to a side which shares the goals around.

Top scorer so far is Ben Pope with 9 goals.  In the FA Cup, Hastings went out in the 1st Qualifying Round at Cray Valley PM but in the FA Trophy did reach the 2nd Round after beating Met Police and Burgess Hill Town before losing at home to Chippenham Town.

With protracted negotiations with the local council over a possible new stadium for Hastings United and the substantial costs to maintain the iconic Pilot Field this could be the last game to be played there for a while as it has been mooted the club could be groundsharing with Eastbourne Borough next season and like Cray Wanderers have a strong emphasis of promoting youth team football in Sussex and have a strong and loyal fan base.

With plenty of points still to play for it is too early to say this is a pivotal game for both sides but certainly could be very competitive and a lively encounter and a tough one to call.  With games like Aveley vs Lewes and Canvey Island v Enfield Town at the weekend, teams are going to take points off each other and eventually whittling down the contenders as we head towards the last two months of the season.

Admission:  £12 adults, £8 concessions, U18s free (if accompanied by an adult)

Pics:  Jon Hilliger & Ozay Booth