Saturday sees Cray Wanderers return to league action after last weekend’s break with a first ever league trip to Haywards Heath Town.
Kick off at Hanbury Stadium is 3pm.
It seems a very long time ago now since the final whistle went at Herne Bay on 20th October since the last Cray Wanderers match. On that very sunny and warm afternoon (that show’s how long ago that was) the Wands had to be patient after dominating the first half without scoring and straight after the restart Ben Mundele let fly with a goal that has become something of a trademark blockbuster for him to give Cray the lead.
Tom Phipp was also impressive at Herne Bay and scored his first Cray goal from the penalty spot after Sean Roberts was brought down. Despite a late goal for Herne Bay Cray saw out the three points and remain after ten games the only unbeaten team in the Bostik League. Hastings United’s victory against Greenwich Borough on Tuesday night cut Cray’s lead at the top to seven points with a couple of games in hand but definitely no-one can fault the start to the league season for Tony Russell’s side.
With the success of the Youth team in reaching the 2nd Round of the FA Youth Cup there is a real feelgood factor about the playing side of Cray Wanderers just at the moment.
Cray’s unbeaten record though will be put to the test on Saturday as Haywards Heath Town have made a very solid start to their first ever season in the Isthmian League and Shaun Saunders team lie 7th in the South-East league table with 15 points from their ten matches.
It is not often that Cray take on a team that recently scored ten goals in a match but Haywards Heath did just that on Tuesday winning 10-0 at Lancing in a Sussex County Cup 3rd Round tie. Their last league match saw them lose 1-3 at Guernsey last Saturday ending a six match unbeaten run.
Haywards Heath Town have been an upwardly mobile club in Sussex County football for a few seasons now, climbing up the Sussex County League and later Southern Combination and last season saw them win the title gaining promotion to the Bostik South-East. They had looked like being promoted in 2016-17 after winning the league but points deductions cost them the title to Shoreham but bounced back in the best way possible.
Their home form in the league has seen them beat Three Bridges (2-0) and Sittingbourne (2-0) and drew with Ashford United (1-1). They were beaten at home by VCD Athletic (0-1) and Hythe Town (0-1). Away form has been decent winning at Horsham (5-4) and Faversham Town (4-2) and drew at Sevenoaks Town (2-2) and Whitstable Town (0-0). Their only away defeat came at Guernsey (1-3). Top league scorer is Karl Akehurst with five so far.
In the FA Cup they were knocked out in the Extra-Preliminary Round stage 0-2 at home to Lancing and lost in the Isthmian League Cup 2-5 at home to Horsham. In the FA Trophy they reached the Preliminary Round after beating Ashford United 3-0 at home after a replay before losing 2-3 at home to Bracknell Town.
This will be a tough test of Cray’s unbeaten record and one where the Wands will have to be at their best to come away with three points.