A busy October begins for Cray Wanderers on Saturday as the FA Cup adventure takes Tony Russell’s side on the road to Portsmouth to face Moneyfields FC. Kick off is 3pm.

Cray come into the game in good heart lying 2^nd in the Isthmian Premier table after 3 games and unbeaten in 2020 despite not being totally at full strength in the opening weeks.  The unbeaten run continued on Tuesday night with a 3-1 win at Folkestone Invicta with goals from Joe Taylor, his 50^th for the club, and lethal second half strikes from Charlie Allen and Rhys Murrell-Williamson.

Cray have this week added to the squad with the arrival primarily as cover of winger Herson Rodrigues Alves who has played for Brentford and Maidenhead United in recent seasons and adds balance on the wings. Jason Banton and Bradley Pritchard are unlikely to make the trip with injury but the return of Tom Phipp and Charlie Allen after pre-season injuries has been a real bonus and Lee Lewis could return after missing Tuesday night and Ben Mundele continues to progress after hamstring problems in the summer.

The Wands cup road began on 23^rd September with a 3-1 home win vs Fisher with goals from Jason Banton (2) & Freddie Parker and will face a tough challenge from a Moneyfields side with two rounds of the Cup advanced past already.

Dave Carter’s side beat Camberley Town 4-2 at home in the Preliminary Round and then showed courage to advance past Aylesbury United on a penalty shoot-out after a 2-2 draw. Steve Hutchings scored both goals on the night and will relish the challenge of the Wands at home.

Moneyfields play in the Southern League Division One South (Step 4) and have begun their league season with two defeats, 1-2 at Cinderford Town on 19^th September and on Tuesday night lost 0-2 at home to Melksham.  Last season they were 18^th in the division when football came to an early end in March.

The sides have met in cup competition before as recently as 2017 in the FA Trophy 2^nd Qualifying Round.   Two sides at the top of their divisions at the time fought out a 1-1 draw at Moneyfields on 14^th November, Michael Power scoring and Cray won the replay the following week 4-1, Mitchell Nelson, Michael Frieter and two Power penalties seeing the Wands through.

Moneyfields were formed in 1987 as Portsmouth Civil Service and from local leagues they joined the Hampshire League becoming Moneyfields in 1994. They later were promoted to the Wessex League and in 2016-17 came second in the Premier Division and were promoted to the Southern League East Division and now known as the South Division.  

Cray Wanderers don’t play Southern League teams that often so should be a great cup occasion on the South Coast with the weather conditions possibly a leveller and Cray will be looking to avoid a potential banana skin and continue their FA Cup run.

Address: Moneyfields FC, 1 Moneyfield Avenue, Portsmouth, Hampshire PO3 6LA

Admission £8.00 adults £5.00 concs – Pay on the gate – Capacity 400

Images courtesy of www.hilligerpix.com