Cray Wanderers continue their road trip on Tuesday evening as the high-flying Wands return to league action with only the second ever visit to Potters Bar Town and the first of a double header of games against Hertfordshire opposition. 

Kick off at the LA Construction Stadium is 7.45pm.  Following a midday pitch inspection the game goes ahead.

Cray extended their unbeaten run in 2020 to 17 games on Saturday with a ruthless display at Moneyfields to extinguish any hopes of a cup upset with four goals in the first 35 minutes.

Joe Taylor took his season tally already to 8 with a classy hat-trick while goals from Freddie Parker, four in five for the midfielder and a Jay Leader header gave Cray a 4-1 lead at the break. Charlie Allen made it two in two games with a hooked volley and Taylor completed his hat-trick with the last moment of the game to complete a 6-2 win and book a trip to Bristol Manor Farm in the 3^rd Qualifying Round.

Cray are second in the league table going into the latest midweek round of fixtures and have certainly hit the ground running with nine points out of nine, a feat Cray have never previously achieved in the Isthmian Premier.

Despite not always being at full strength with Bradley Pritchard, Jason Banton, and Kyron Richards have been absent with injury and Karl Dent long term and also Tom Phipp, Allen, Jerome Federico and Ben Mundele have despite not playing a full pre-season have come back into the side and put in great shifts.

The team is full of goals with Banton, Parker, Rhys Murrell-Williamson and Charlie Allen scoring 11 goals between them in league and cups. Add the trickery of Herson Rodriguez Alves and the options for Tony Russell are very impressive indeed.

Joe Taylor continues to produce outstanding performances and scored his 50^th goal for the club vs. Folkestone Invicta last Tuesday and looks so sharp up front. 

Potters Bar Town though will provide tough opposition on their own patch and Lee O’Leary’s although lie 16^th in the table did win their last league match 3-0 at home to Cheshunt last Tuesday with Nana Kyei scoring twice and Ben Ward-Cochrane scoring.

Potters Bar played as recently as Sunday in the FA Cup where they lost 2-1 to National South Concord Rangers after Samson Esan gave the Scholars the lead in a game that was played at Potters Bar.

Their first two league games ended in defeat, 0-3 at Carshalton on the opening day of the season and then 1-2 at home to Corinthian Casuals.  In between they won 1-0 at home to East Thurrock United in the FA Cup.

Last season, Potters Bar were lying 13^th and comfortably in mid-table when the season ended reached the 4^th Qualifying Round of the FA Cup and since then have added to a settled squad the last couple of season with three ex-Enfield Town players, fullback Joe Payne, Midfielder Nathan Livings and ex-Wands U18s player Ken Charles.

Also arriving were striker Anthony Mendy and midfielder Charlie Ruff from Wingate & Finchley.  The first ever trip to Potters Bar on 31^st August, 2019 ended in a 1-1 draw with Bradley Sach scoring for the home side before Joe Taylor levelled deep into stoppage time.

The return game at Hayes Lane on 7^th December saw Cray play impressively to win 4-0 with goals from Andre Coker, Lee Lewis, Joe Taylor and Karl Dent. 

Despite the uncertainty in non-league football at the moment one thing that is certain is that the games come thick and fast but each time Cray Wanderers play it is an enjoyable occasion and at the moment a joy to watch. The game will be tough but one to look forward to.

Admission Prices:  £12 adults, £8 concs, £1 U16s – Capacity 600

Images courtesy of http://www.hilligerpix.com