Cray Wanderers suffered back to back league defeats for the first time this season as Herne Bay fought back from a goal down at half time to score twice in the second half and inflict Cray’s third loss of the season.
Despite the defeat Cray remain in second place in the Bostik South and didn’t lose too much ground on leaders Lewes and stay three points clear of Carshalton Athletic in third place.
The Wands got off to a good start and took the lead after ten minutes when Junior Dadson was upended in the box and Charlie MacDonald stroked home the penalty for his fifth goal in a Cray shirt.
After a fairly even first half though, Cray were pegged back following knocks for MacDonald and Marcus Evans by a resurgent Bay side who made it back to back wins with first leading scorer Jake Embery levelling when he turned home a right wing corner just after the hour.
Then with ten minutes to go with the weather conditions worsening Herne Bay took the lead when Ben Gorham fired into the net after Nick Blue had pushed away Tom Carlton’s shot. Despite a frenetic last ten minutes Cray couldn’t force an equaliser.
After what looked a pretty sunny if windy morning the sky got a lot greyer before kick off and the rain came down in the second half.
Cray manager Tony Russell had to make changes to the side which lost rather unluckily to Lewes last weekend following suspensions to Barney Williams and Mitchell Nelson. In for his debut were left back Matt Parsons who comes to Cray from Cray Valley Paper Mills and the always impressive Marcus Evans started in place of Nelson. Dean Carpenter started in midfield in place of Zak Henry.
The game started very evenly for the opening exchanges but it was Cray who made the first real incision after 10 minutes when Karl Dent played a superb ball through to Junior Dadson down the left who broke into the box and was brought down from behind by Richard Ismael for one of the more obvious penalties of the season. Charlie MacDonald confidently struck home the penalty kick which keeper Ben Hunter got a good hand to but couldn’t keep out.
Herne Bay though are a decent side with some fine young players and they played some good football for a spell and Nassim Dukali and Jake Embery combined to set up Junior Aikhionbare for a snap shot which was well gathered by Nick Blue.
It looked definitely that Cray would need a second goal to give them comfort in the game but several times they got in good positions for crosses down the left but each time the cross or the ball in was claimed by Hunter.
Then Dadson cut in from the right and made a run across to just outside the area but he skewed his shot well wide. This was followed by a similar run and shot from the left by Dent which also went wide.
Half an hour in to the game, MacDonald had to have some treatment for what was like a hip problem but managed to shrug it off to put in a fine shift for the rest of the half.
Cray came close to adding to their lead when from a throw in down the right the ball came to Ben Mundele who made a run to the edge of the area and his shot was spilled out by Hunter and MacDonald following up fired into the side netting.
This was followed by Parsons shooting well over and then from a Dent left wing corner to the near post Evans flicked the ball over.
Cray’s last opportunity of the first half came to MacDonald who was found by Dent down the right and took two touches to set himself up but couldn’t keep the shot down.
Despite these openings Herne Bay were very much in the game and before half time had a good spell of pressure. Firstly, Bradley Schafer set up Tom Carlton inside the area down the right but his effort was blocked by Jay Leader with the loose ball falling to Dukali who fired over the bar from about 12 yards.
Then just before the break, Schafer made a very good run forward from midfield and hit a shot from 25 yards which only just went past the left post.
So at half time Cray were definitely the happier to go in 1-0 up as the rain which began during the latter stages of the first half got a bit steadier.
Half Time: 0-1
Cray had to make a change at half time with Michael Power coming on for MacDonald who hadn’t quite shrugged of that earlier knock.
The Wands began the second half on the front foot and from a throw in down the right the ball came to Mundele who cut inside to shoot over the top.
Herne Bay though had their best chance of the game shortly after when Dukali’s ball into the area found Jack Steventon who planted his header straight at Blue.
Cray then had an opportunity for a second goal when Dent’s free kick out on the right into the area was cleared by Ben Gorham out as far as Leader who hit a shot wide of the left post.
Herne Bay though were playing some good football at this time and you sensed there was more to come from them and Danny Leonard made a good run forward and his low shot from the left was met by a fine diving save by Blue pushing the ball past the right post. However, in the 61st minute from the resulting corner the ball into the box was awkward to deal with and Embery did well to turn the ball into the net and to make it 1-1.
Some of the fluency seemed to go out of Cray’s game after that but there was a chance with a free kick out on the right of the area but Parsons shot over.
Herne Bay threatened when the lively Dukali set up Josh Wisson for a shot which went wide. Then for Cray from a left wing corner, Dent’s ball was headed out to Dadson who volleyed over the top. This was followed by Dadson having an effort blocked by Wisson from just outside the area.
There was a blow for Cray when almost half way through the half, Evans had to go off with an injury and Joe Vines came on for his first league appearance of the season as centre half.
Herne Bay were beginning to dominate the game and Carlton in particular was causing problems and he hit a well struck shot which Blue did very well to push away. Then Carlton hit another shot which was deflected past the post for a corner. Then Steventon shot over the bar as the home side sensed a winner.
With ten minutes to go the goal Herne Bay had been threatening came with Carlton again involved and he found himself inside the area down the left and his lofted shot was pushed out well by Blue but only as far as Gorham who rifled the ball into the net to complete the turnaround.
The last ten minutes were a bit frantic with the Wands pushing forward in a bit to grab a point and they won three corners one of which was flicked onto the crossbar by Hunter and over and some pressure from crosses but Herne Bay defended well and got blocks in and headers out where needed and were able to see out the game.
It was inevitable that Cray would have a mini blip at some point of the season and as it was there wasn’t too much damage done in the league table as Lewes and Carshalton both drew with Greenwich Borough, Walton and Corinthian Casuals both very much in the mix.
Cray were not at their very best today but credit needs to go to Herne Bay for they could as a young side have caved in after conceding so early but showed good attacking ideas and managed to breach the Cray back line away from home which so few teams have been able to do. Their results had been a little inconsistent but they showed that there are no easy games in this division.
Herne Bay: Ben Hunter, Richard Ismail, Jack Steventon, Ben Gorham, Josh Wisson, Danny Leonard, Bradley Schafer, Tom Carlton (Connor Wilkins, 90), Jake Embery, Junior Aikhionbare (Capt.) (Teddy Deverson, 90), Nassim Dukali.
Subs not used: Jono Richardson, Sam McCallum, Danny Rumbol
Cray Wanderers: Nick Blue, Ben Mundele, Matt Parsons, Jay Leader, Marcus Evans (Joe Vines, 66), Lea Dawson (Capt.), Dean Carpenter, Karl Dent, Charlie MacDonald (Michael Power, H/T), Junior Dadson, Brandon Scott (Ralique Lawrence, 55).
Subs not used: Michael Freiter, Zak Henry
Referee: Scott Rudd
Assistant Referees: Jamie Eacott, Peter Conn
Att: 219