The Wands look to keep the momentum going following the victory at Godalming on Saturday with a trip to Horsham on Tuesday evening, the first visit to Goring’s Meadow since 2011.
The win at Godalming moved Cray up to eighth in the table after nine games and looking for a sustained spell of good form in order to keep pace with the early contenders for promotion. Cray trail current leaders Tooting and Mitcham United by nine points but these are still early days of the season and any sort of consistent run will keep them in check.
Saturday’s game saw Cray showing a different side to their nature in the second half following the dismissal of Ade Osifuwa. Forward thinking and free flowing at times in the first half, they had to dig in with a man short and some tinkering and good substitutions by Tony Russell helped Cray see out the win with a fair degree of comfort. Danny Haynes took his goal tally to four in just three league starts with his expertly placed header and you feel there will be many more where that came from.
Also special mention goes to Jeysiva Sivapathasundaram at left back whose set piece delivery is excellent and as Tony said on Saturday, the biggest compliment you can give him is we haven’t missed Grant Basey in that position. Jai McKinlay also continues to look a terrific prospect and for the last two games has come on and has looked composed, polished and tidy in possession and slotted in instantly at tricky times.
Our opponents on Tuesday, Horsham have returned to the Ryman South after one season in the Southern Combination Premier (the former Sussex County League) where they were promoted as champions. Dominic Di Paolo’s team are currently twelfth in the league table with 11 points from ten games played. They come into the game on the back of a creditable 1-1 draw at home to a decent Walton Casuals side.
Horsham were a good team at Sussex County League level in the 1930’s winning the league six times. They won the Athenian League in 1972-73 and joined the Ryman League where they have remained for all but one season. They first met Cray in competition in 2004-05, the Wands first in the Ryman League Division One where we met in the Promotion Play-Offs Semi Final with Horsham winning 3-1 before they lost in the final at home to Bromley. The following season they did get promoted to the Ryman Premier for the first time finishing runners up to Ramsgate. In 2007-08 they had a good FA Cup run to the 2nd Round Proper where they met Roberto Martinez’s Swansea City and took them to a replay, both games were televised. We would meet again in 2009-10 after Cray’s promotion to the Premier for three seasons before they were relegated and after three more seasons in the South were relegated back to the Southern Combination.
Horsham play at the Horsham YMCA ground where we last met them in December 2011, with Cray winning 5-1 that afternoon, with Mark Willy, Leigh Bremner, Jack Clark, Danny Phillips and Tony Dolby on target. Including the playoff semi final we have met 11 times with Cray winning 4, 3 draws and lost 4.
There should be a decent crowd at Goring’s Mead as Horsham have always been well supported and the Wands will have to be at their best to come back from Sussex with three points.