Cray Wanderers look to build on the momentum of Monday’s solid 3-0 win against Chatham Town as they face the first of three away games in a week against Hastings United.  Kick off at the Pilot Field is 3pm.

This appears to be one of the stand out games of the afternoon in the Ryman South as the sides in 9^th and 10^th lock horns for the first time this season and there is no reason why this shouldn’t be a classic contest.   Cray followed their dramatic comeback against Ramsgate on New Years Eve with a strong showing against the struggling Chats with Lee Prescott scoring two poachers goals in the first half and he appears to be back to his best form.  Karl Dent also was in great from on Monday, scoring one and having a hand in both of Prescott’s goals and he too looked back to his sharpest after being kicked from pillar to post against Ramsgate.

There were strong performances too from the likes of Solomon Taiwo whose range of passing was excellent, Lea Dawson in the midfield made a difference whilst Danny Haynes played well to without getting his name on the scoresheet.  Cray manager Tony Russell was delighted with the clean sheet for the defence and hope to keep that solidity for the tricky trip to East Sussex on Saturday.

Hastings were one of the pre-season favourites to do well this season but perhaps the most consistent aspect of their season has been their inconsistency.  They had two good runs in the FA Cup and FA Trophy and they have had some good results in the league and are the joint top scorers in the league with 76 goals after 24 games so are well on the way to achieve a hundred for the season.  Experienced former Tonbridge Angels and Maidstone United striker, Frannie Collin leads the way with sixteen league goals and former Maidstone skipper Matt Bodkin with ten goals has also weighed in with his fair share whilst former Faversham Town striker, Jack Harris has scored eleven goals for Darren Hare’s side.

After a slow start to the season they have some good results including a 4-0 win at Tooting  and good wins at home against Greenwich Borough and Lewes.  They have also been involved in some very high scoring games including 4-4 draws at Carshalton and again at East Grinstead on Monday.  They also lost 4-5 at Molesey and lost 3-4 at home to Corinthian Casuals one of just two defeats at home along with a 2-4 loss to leaders Dorking Wanderers.  Cray are a point ahead of Hastings going into the game on 43 points in what is a high quality league with many good teams and over the next week the Wands face three playoff contenders with games at Walton Casuals and Corinthian Casuals to come.

Hastings United can trace their existence back to 1894 but it wasn’t until the mid 80’s when they were known as Hastings Town that they emerged from the Sussex League to join the Southern League and were promoted to the Southern League Premier in 1991-92 where they spent six seasons.  After some seasons of struggle they moved to the Ryman league following non league restructuring and met the Wands for the first time in competition during the 2005-06 season, Ryman Division One season.  The following season, Hastings came fourth and reached the playoffs and were promoted the hard way, winning both ties away from home against Dover Athletic and Tooting & Mitcham United to gain promotion to the Ryman Premier.  The Wands would catch up with them and meet again for three seasons from 2009-10.  Hastings had a strange season in 2012-13 where they were relegated from the Ryman Premier but managed to reach the 3^rd Round of the FA Cup where they lost to Championship Middlesbrough at the Riverside.  Since then they reached the Ryman South playoffs in 2013-14 where they lost to Folkestone Invicta, but in 2014-15 they came close to relegation and only survived on the final day of the season.  Last season they finished in a respectable seventh place.

The last time the two teams met at Hastings was in January 2013 when Leigh Bremner’s penalty earned Cray a 1-1 draw.  The sides have met twelve times in league games with Cray winning 6, Hastings 3 and 2 draws.  There have also been two cup meetings with Cray winning 3-0 at Hastings in the FA Cup in September 2011 and the Wands won 2-0 in the FA Trophy at Hayes Lane in October 2014.

This should be a tremendous game between two good footballing sides and could well be worth a trip to the coast to see it.