Cray Wanderers end their March fixtures on Saturday with a trip to the East Kent coast to face Whitstable Town for the first league visit to the Belmont Ground since December 2008. Cray will be looking to maintain their 13 point lead at the top of the Bostik South-East after a difficult month with three successive matches against teams in the top 5 and now travel to face an in-form Whitstable side unbeaten in four games and steadily climbing the table.

The Wands with six matches to play are on 72 points and lead Hastings United and Horsham who are both on 59 points but have both played a game more than Cray. Ashford United on 58 and Haywards Heath Town on 56 points make up the playoff places. There is a scenario if Ashford at should lose or only draw at home to Guernsey or a Haywards Heath defeat at VCD then a Cray win could earn them promotion on Saturday.

Cray had to work hard last Saturday to maintain their unbeaten home league record and twice quickly had to come from behind to draw 2-2 against a tough Haywards Heath Town side. Joe Taylor showed once again his ability to be in the right place at the right time with two poachers goals and was perhaps unfortunate not to collect a hat-trick and came close to winning the game twice in the closing stages. After a tight, cagey opening half, Cray played very well in the second half and the two centre-halves defended well against a strong, powerhouse side and despite the absence of Bradley Pritchard the midfield did well with Tom Phipp outstanding and Ben Mundele made an impact going forward from the back while Jordan Clarke made a lively contribution off the bench in the last 15 minutes.

It was certainly the right response to the defeat at Hastings United the previous Saturday and Cray finished the game positively and with great determination. With a game against Ashford United to come on April 13^th Cray have had a very good look at the playoff/promotion contenders over the last three weeks with games against Horsham, Hastings United and Haywards Heath and each one has been a real test of the promotion credentials for Tony Russell’s side.

At the beginning of the month it seemed that the visit to Whitstable Town would be against a side needing points to stave off relegation but since a defeat at Herne Bay on 2^nd March the Oystermen have had an excellent month with home wins against Guernsey, Sittingbourne and VCD Athletic and last Saturday picked up a useful point from a 1-1 draw at Whyteleafe with ex-Ramsgate man Harry Stannard’s late first half penalty making it four unbeaten for Scott Porter’s team. They have since moved up to 12^th place with 36 points and are 12 points clear of 19^th placed Greenwich Borough

Whitstable have a pretty decent home record with wins against Ashford United (1-0), Greenwich Borough (2-0), Guernsey (3-1), Ramsgate (1-0), Sittingbourne (2-1) & VCD Athletic (4-1). They picked up points from draws with East Grinstead Town (1-1), Hastings United (1-1), Haywards Heath Town (0-0), Sevenoaks Town (1-1) and Three Bridges (1-1). They were beaten at home by Faversham Town (1-2), Herne Bay (0-4), Horsham (0-3) and Whyteleafe (0-2). Away from home they won at Faversham Town (2-1), Phoenix Sports (2-0) and Sittingbourne (2-1) and drew at Greenwich Borough, Guernsey, Sevenoaks Town and Whyteleafe. They lost at Ashford United, Cray Wanderers, Hastings United, Herne Bay, Horsham, Hythe Town, Ramsgate and VCD Athletic.

When the two sides met at Hayes Lane back on Sunday 19^th August on a sunny afternoon, Cray won 2-0 with both goals coming in the second half through Junior Dadson and Aaron Rhule. That was Whitstable Town’s first game back in the Bostik League following a two season stay in the SCEFL Premier Division and promotion last season behind champions Sevenoaks Town.

The last meeting at Whitstable was in December 2008 with Cray winning 4-1 with goals from Tyrone Sterling, Scott Kinch, Leigh Bremner and Colin Luckett.

This is one of the great away days of the season and with British Summer Time beginning on Sunday is a terrific way to signal in hopefully a fine few months for weather and for Cray Wanderers as they attempt to clear another hurdle towards the Bostik Premier next season and for Whitstable Town to ensure another season of South-East football for 2019-20.