Cray Wanderers are on the road Saturday afternoon as they travel down to Lewes in a battle of two undefeated teams at The Dripping Pan.  Kick off is 3pm.

Cray come into the game on the back of two successive home draws but with contrasting performances.  After the disappointment of the second half showing against Chipstead last Saturday, Cray turned in an excellent performance on Wednesday night against Hastings and most neutral observers would conclude that Tony Russell’s side were rather unlucky not to pick up the three points.

In an attacking sense, Cray did everything they could to break down a strong Hastings side and Brandon Scott in particular was in exceptional form, scored a great goal and came close on a number of occasions to finding the net again.  Bradley Stevenson continued in his rich vein of form too and as Tony alluded to the qualities of Michael Power who helped lead the line and bring players into play.  Zak Henry also had a good game in midfield and Karl Dent and Lea Dawson have been very consistent over the opening six league games.

It is the defence though that have particularly stood out and Jay Leader and Mitchell Nelson in the centre were excellent again as were full backs Ben Mundele and Barney Williams.  They restricted Hastings to few chances aside from the penalty which was the first goal Cray had conceded in the league for almost four and a half games, and Nick Blue’s fine save from Sam Adams header.  They almost won it at the end with the shot which came back off the post but it would have been a travesty if they had.

The point keeps Cray in ninth place on ten points but at this very early stage of the season it is all about setting a marker for performances and the results will follow.  At the moment Cray are playing very well and perhaps are not quite getting the rub of the green at times to convert draws into wins but you can’t fault the side for their efforts.

It will be a difficult test for the Wands on Saturday though against one of our bogey sides, Lewes.  Darren Freeman’s side are particularly strong at home and Cray will have to produce an outstanding performance to come away with the three points.

Lewes are third in the league table on 14 points two behind the early joint leaders Walton Casuals and Whyteleafe and like Cray are unbeaten in the league.  They have won four and drawn two of their opening six games with home wins against Guernsey and Hythe and a draw with Sittingbourne.  Away from home they picked up wins at Herne Bay and Hastings United and drew 2-2 at Shoreham on Tuesday night.  The only blot like Cray came in the FA Cup where after beating Newhaven in the Preliminary Round they were beaten 0-3 at Thamesmead in the next round.  The leading scorer so far on two are Ronnie Conlon and Jamie Brotherton.

It is fair to say that Cray’s league record against Lewes is in need of improvement having played eight times with two draws and six defeats including a double for the Rooks last season winning 5-2 at home last season after Danny Haynes and Lea Dawson had given Cray the lead at the break, whilst the Wands were beaten 1-3 at home in February.

Lewes had a lot success at the beginning of the new millennium onwards reaching the Conference in 2007-08 but in recent years have struggled and were relegated from the Bostik Premier in 2015-16.  They made a rather slow start to last season but built up momentum to leave themselves on the fringes of the playoffs and ended up finishing ninth.

They are very well supported and a supporter owned club and do a lot of vital community work and do much to promote equality in the game and have a strong Ladies team.  They are proof that with a strong core fan base clubs can survive periods of turmoil through dedication and a love for the club.

With FA Cup ties taking place for those Bostik South clubs left in the competition this is one of the games of the day and could be well worth a visit.