Cray’s five league game unbeaten run came to a halt as a strong second half from Lewes saw the Wands comprehensively beaten at the Dripping Pan.  

Such an event seemed unlikely at half time as Cray twice took the lead despite not playing their best but two goals in the first six minutes of the second half rocked the Wands back on their heels and ended the game with nine men following the dismissals of Jey Siva and Danny Haynes.  The defeat, Cray’s third of the season dropped the Wands down to sixth place in the league table and they still await their first ever win against the Rooks.

The Wands were unchanged for the third straight game but both sides came into the form with a bit of form and it was Lewes who perhaps shaded the opening exchanges.

The pace of Charlie Coppola was prominent in the early minutes and he had the first attempt towards goal when his shot from outside the area was deflected to Nick Blue.  Then he made a run from deep but his shot lacked power and Blue got down to save again.  Then came their best opening when Steve Brinkhurst played in Duncan Culley just inside the area but his shot was saved by Blue’s legs.

The Wands then had a spell of good possession and patiently looked to get their passing game going with Sean Roberts shooting over the bar.

Then in the twentieth minute the deadlock was broken with a really fine Cray team goal.  Jay Leader up from the back found Lea Dawson onto Ben Mundele who fed Brandon Scott down the right.   Scott then put over an excellent cross to the back post found Danny Haynes who headed his tenth goal of the season from four yards.

The lead though looked a fragile one and Lewes levelled the scores six minutes later.  More good play by Brinkhurst and Coppola saw the ball fall to Lloyd Harrington who hit a well struck shot which gave Blue no chance to save.

Cray though gradually weathered this set back and ended the half looking the better side.  Despite this being a game of few chances we got the third goal of the first half five minutes before half time and was another well worked goal.  This time the ball was worked down the left by Karl Dent, Dawson and Roberts to Jey Siva who put over another telling cross to the far post which again was headed by Haynes but was met by a fine one handed save by Lucas Covolan.  However, Dawson following up was on hand to knock in his third goal of the season from seven yards.

Lewes looked to hit back before the break but Coppola shot well wide with Cray going in 2-1 up and despite perhaps not as fluent as previous weeks had showed a clinical edge to their game scoring twice without creating too many chances.

Half Time:  1-2

I think it is fair to say the second half was one the Wands will not remember with a great deal of affection as Lewes came out fired up whilst Cray it seemed were still in the changing room  and the home side took advantage.

The leveller came fifty seconds after the break when a throw in from Harrington into the area was flicked on by Stacey Freeman and Jamie Brotherton forced the ball in through a crowd of players to make it 2-2.

Cray looked to come again and a free kick out on the right from Siva into the area was turned behind by Freeman under pressure for a corner.

Unfortunately for Cray in the 51^st minute, Lewes went in front for the first time from a corner of their own.  From the right, Coppola’s ball into the box again led to confusion and Brotherton was on hand again to turn the ball into the net perhaps via a Wands defender.

Cray were now on the back foot and Brinkhurst tested Blue with a long range strike as the Wands struggled to get their passing game going as they were in the first half.

Wands fans would probably have taken a draw at this stage but any hopes of this were dealt a blow in the 62^nd minute when Coppola who was having a good game was brought down just outside the area by a studs up challenge from Siva and was shown a straight red card.  Although at first sight it seemed harsh there was contact with the player and the referee deemed it a dangerous challenge.

Despite this Lewes couldn’t quite kill the game off and Cray hung in the game until the 78^th minute when the Rooks sealed the game with an excellent goal.  Brotherton combined with Jack Dixon to set up a chance for himself from twenty yards and let fly with a great strike which flew into the top right corner giving Blue no chance thus completing his hat-trick.

The game got unsavoury with ten minutes to go when Scott was fouled by the right touchline by Dixon but a melee ensued and Haynes was dismissed for seemingly raising his hands to Dixon.  The Lewes bench needlessly got involved and manager Darren Freeman was also sent to the stands for the final few minutes.

This made Cray’s chances of getting something from the game virtually impossible and the scoreline had rather a false look in the 86^th minute when from another corner from Coppola the ball came to Culley who placed a low shot from the edge of the area into the net.

The last action saw a Coppola shot deflected wide for a corner whilst Cray looked for a consolation but to be fair hadn’t really looked like scoring in the second half aside from winning a couple of corners.

One thing is for sure life is rarely dull watching Cray and they say sometimes you learn more about a team and its qualities from a defeat than a win and it can be hoped that this was just a bad day at the office, or at least a bad half day as Cray did enough first half to be winning.

Cray now go into the protracted FA Trophy tie with Carshalton Athletic on Wednesday with Marlow awaiting the winners on Saturday.

Cray:    Nick Blue, Ben Mundele, Jey Siva, Jay Leader, Paul Lorraine, Lea Dawson (Capt.), Lee Prescott (Timi Osidobu, 75), Sean Roberts, Danny Haynes, Karl Dent (Bradley Woods-Garness, 85), Brandon Scott (Solomon Taiwo, 85): Subs: Ade Osifuwa, Jai McKinlay

 

Sent Off:          Siva 62, Haynes 80

Booked:           Dawson

 

Lewes:   Lucas Covolan, Steve Brinkhurst, Matthew George, Lloyd Harrington, Stacey Freeman (Capt.), Lloyd Cotton, Duncan Culley, Ronnie Conlon, Jamie Brotherton (Arine Uade, 87), Jack Dixon, Charlie Coppola: Subs:  Jonte Smith, Stephen Okoh, Daniel Perry, Leon Dramis

 

Referee:          James Robinson

Assistants:       Paul Sanderson, Adam Osbourne

 

Attendance:     523