Cray Wanderers vs Wingate & Finchley – Isthmian Premier – – Saturday 16th August, 3 pm – Match Preview
Photos – Steve Cullum
Cray Wanderers complete the three game home start to the Isthmian Premier season on Saturday as Tim O’Shea’s side welcome Wingate & Finchley to Flamingo Park. Ko, 3 pm.
The Wands have made a decent start to the season picking up four points from the first two matches with a solid 2-0 win against Canvey Island on the opening day followed by a hard earned point from a 1-1 draw with Folkestone Invicta on Tuesday night.
The point puts Cray 5th in the admittedly early league table and one of five teams on four points. After the first two games, Cheshunt, Dulwich Hamlet and Burgess Hill Town have begun with two wins out of two with the league table not really going to take shape for a few matches yet.
Tuesday night’s Kent Derby was a good match and high octane and competitive throughout and after a goalless first half Cray took the lead with a fine goal on the counter netted by Nodirbek Bobomurodov for his first league goal for the club.
Folkestone levelled eighteen minutes from time with a goal later credited to Kweku Lucan but the Wands had the better chances after that to win the game. George Brooke who had only been on less than a minute was unlucky to see his goalbound effort hit the bar and then Josh Williams late on saw a shot saved. In the end, a point in fairness was about right in a real test under the lights and in the heat.
It is expected to be sunny and warm too on Saturday as the Wingate & Finchley travel from North London for their third visit to Flamingo Park.
The Blues sit pointless after the first two games but extremely hard to judge too harshly as both defeats came against two of the favourites for promotion and by the odd goal. Ahmet Rifat’s side began with a 1-2 defeat at Billericay Town on the opening day with Ada Okorochieye scoring in stoppage time. On Tuesday night, Dulwich Hamlet were the visitors and won 1-0 with a first half goal.
Wingate & Finchley have had a busy summer of recruitment with eleven new players signing. Defenders Kyron Horsley-McKay, Mackye Townsend-West, midfielders Sam Cornish who returns to the club, Alfie Cutbush, Alkeo Bani and Adam Lovatt. Also up front and on the wings Ada Okorochieye, Demaray Anyadike, Johnny Allotey, Caoilan McGettigan and Isaac Stones added to those players retained from last season like Camilo Restrepo, Ben Watt, Ryan Lowe, Ore Bello and ex Wands keeper Charlie Grainger.
The two league meetings saw a win apiece with Wingate & Finchley winning 1-0 on a rain lashed night on 29th January with a Ben Watt goal but Cray ran out 4-1 winners at Flamingo Park on 12th April with Nyren Clunis, Soul Kader (2) and Josh Williams netting for Cray with Jaiden Drakes-Thomas scoring for the visitors. The sides also met in the 2nd Qualifying Round of the FA Cup with the Wands winning 1-0 at The Maurice Rebak Stadium with a David Smith goal after a 1-1 draw at Cray.
During the Isthmian League era the clubs have only met in the Isthmian Premier 16 times with Cray winning six, Wingate & Finchley winning five and five draws although the sides have met in the FA Cup, FA Trophy and London Senior Cup during that time.
The Premier League may start this weekend but the Isthmian Premier is well under way and looks to be an even more competitive and hard to call league than last season and clubs like Cray Wanderers and Wingate & Finchley will be highly involved with how the final league table will pan out and should be a fast paced match in the August sun.
Admission £15 adults, £10 concessions, £5 U16-U13s, U12s free available on the gate or online at www.cray-wanderers.com/tickets/ – Printed Match Programme: £3 – Merchandise, hot and cold food/drinks and bars available and big TV screen.
THE PRE-MATCH THOUGHTS/PROGRAMME NOTES OF TIM O’SHEA
The Wands play the third of three home games to start the season this afternoon as
we welcome Wingate & Finchley to Flamingo Park. Here, Tim O’Shea looks back on
Tuesday night’s entertaining 1-1 draw with Folkestone Invicta with an interview
conducted with Radio Wands Luca Viscogliosi
Hello Tosh. On Tuesday night it finished Cray Wanderers 1 Folkestone Invicta 1.
Perhaps on the evidence of what I saw a draw was a fair result.
I thought it was. If you were a neutral or both sets of supporters would have seen both
sides going toe for toe with a lot of chances and half chances but I think on reflection
a draw was the right result and we would take that.
Nods Bobomurodov was in the right place at the right time to score his first league
goal for the Wands. A bit of luck for his goal but he earned that luck by gambling on
that run into the box from Chris Dickson’s pass. When you make your own luck in
football you get what you deserve sometimes.
Yes definitely, he worked hard enough and deserved his goal, he is a really good lad.
That is what we are going to have to have with our sixteen players. We are going to
have rotation. George Brooke has done ever so well. He comes out of the starting
lineup, Nods goes in and gets himself a goal, then, George comes on and nearly gets
one himself. That is what has been good in the dressing room, it isn’t just about
eleven guys. Everybody is there and deserve to come on and do the business.
For Folkestone’s equalising goal, we mentioned in pre-season a little frailty at set play
with balls into the box. Folkestone loaded the box every chance they had, long throws
balls on top of the defence. It was a poor one to concede. I imagine your words to the
team after would have been don’t dwell on that and take that into the next game.
It is exactly that.
Listen, you have to chance the mentality in the changing room.
Forget who you are coming up against. I heard a couple of comments that we would have taken that before the game.
The changing room would be thinking no. We have to try and win every game, go out there to win every game and see where that takes
us. There was a little tint of disappointment that we didn’t come out of the game with more than a point but on reflection both managers and coaching staff would have been happy.
Looking now to today’s game with Wingate & Finchley. They came here at the back
end of last season and were very lively for the opening fifteen minutes. They don’t
always have the biggest of budgets but always seem to punch above their weight. I
imagine you are expecting another young, athletic side who will try to use the ball well
and make us work hard for the three points.
Yes, they did last season down here although the final result was convincing for us in
the end but did cause us a few problems on the given day. Their sides will move the
ball quickly, they rotate a lot so it will be a tough one. I know they have started with a
couple of losses but they are a side to be reckoned with on their day.
DIRECTIONS TO FLAMINGO PARK
Flamingo Park Sports & Leisure – Sidcup By-Pass, Chislehurst, Kent BR7 6HL
Flamingo Park lies on the A20 and is the new home of Cray Wanderers and used for the Men and Women’s First Team, U23s, Youth Team games, Academy side and the club house hosts live music and private events. For the 2024-25 season Bexley FC will also play their Kent County League Premier games at Flamingo Park.
By car
From Kent – Via M20 or A2
M20 – Follow the M20 for 16.8 miles then continue on to A20 for 3.6 miles then continue on to Sidcup By-Pass Road/A20 for 1.9 miles. Continue onto Sidcup By-Pass/A20 for 0.3 miles then take a left into the ground entrance and another left for the car park.
A2 – Get on the M2 from A229 for 5.1 miles. After merging onto the M2 after 5.5 miles continue onto Watling Street/A2 for 8.7 miles. Use the left lane to take the M25 (S) slip road to M23 for 0.7 miles. Merge onto the M25 for 2.4 miles then at junction 3, exit towards A20/London (SE)/Swanley for 0.3 miles. At the Swanley interchange, take the 5th exit onto the A20 slip road to London (SE)/Lewisham for 0.8 miles. Merge onto the A20 for 3.5 miles then continue onto Sidcup By-Pass Road/A20 for 1.9 miles. Continue onto Sidcup By-Pass/A20 for 0.3 miles then take a left into the ground entrance and another left for the car park.
From London, North & West
Via A20 – If traveling from London take A3212, A302 and Westminster Bridge Road and at the roundabout take the 3rd exit onto St. George’s Circus/A201 and after 0.3 miles turn left onto New Kent Road/A201 for 0.5 miles. Then keep right staying on New Kent Road/A201 for 0.4 miles and then onto Old Kent Road/A2 for 2.6 miles. Take a slight right onto Amersham Road/A2/A20 then a left onto Amersham Road/A20 for 0.2 miles. Take a slight right onto Lewisham Way/A20 for 1.1 miles and then use the left 3 lanes to turn left onto Rennell Street/A20 for 1.9 miles. Use the right 2 lanes to turn slightly onto Sidcup Road/A20 for 0.3 miles then at the roundabout take the 2nd exit and stay on Sidcup Road/A20 for 3.7 miles. Then take the A222 towards Bromley/Chislehurst/Sidcup for 0.2 miles then at Frognal Corner Roundabout take the 4th exit onto the A20 slip road to C. London/Lewisham for 0.3 miles. Then merge onto the Sidcup By-Pass Road/A20 for 0.6 miles and then onto the Sidcup By-Pass for 0.3 miles. Then take a left into the entrance to the ground and another left into the car park.
From Essex/East Anglia
Via A13 – If traveling from Essex/East Anglia get onto the A13 for 11.6 miles. Use the left lane to take the M25 (N)/M25 (S) slip road to M11/M1/Stansted Airport/Dartford Crossing/A282 for 0.2 miles. At Mardyke Junction take the 1st exit for 0.3 miles and then use the right lane to take the A282 slip road to M25 (S)/Dartford Crossing then keep right at the fork to continue towards A282 for 3.8 miles. Use the right 3 lanes to stay on A282 then follow signs for M20/M23/Gatwick Airport /M25/Channel Tunnel/Dover for 0.6 miles. Continue onto M25 (signs for Dover/M20/Channel Tunnel/M23 for 3.3 miles. At junction 3 exit towards A20/London (SE)/Swanley for 0.3 miles and at Swanley Interchange take the 5th exit onto the A20 slip road to London (SE)/Lewisham for 0.8 miles. Then merge onto the A20 for 3.5 miles, continue onto Sidcup By-Pass Rd/A20 for 1.9 miles and then continue onto the Sidcup By-Pass for 0.3 miles then turn left into the entrance to the ground and then a left into the car park.
From: Sussex/South
If traveling from Sussex/South best get on Hastings Road/Pembury By-Pass/A21 in Kent from A267 and after 9.4 miles continue straight onto Sevenoaks Bypass/A21 for 3.8 miles and then keep right to continue onto M25. After 7.9 miles at junction 3 use the left 2 lanes to take the A20 exit to London/Lewisham/Channel Tunnel/Maidstone/M20 for 0.3 miles. At Swanley Interchange take the 2nd exit onto the A20 slip road to London (SE)/Lewisham for 0.5 miles. Merge onto the A20 for 3.5 miles, continue onto Sidcup By-Pass Rd/A20 for 1.9 miles and then continue onto the Sidcup By-Pass for 0.3 miles then turn left into the entrance to the ground and then a left into the car park.
The Car Park is free for supporters and there should be space between 400 cars on site. Please note bays in front of the main entrance are reserved for club officials.
By Train – Nearest BR Station – New Eltham – 1 mile. Trains from London Charing Cross/London Cannon Street/London Bridge or from Dartford/Gravesend. There are four trains an hour heading to New Eltham from London Charing Cross. For returns there are also four trains back to London.
From the station walk south-east onto Foots Cray Road/A211 for 0.3 miles then turn right onto Thaxted Road for 0.2 miles. Then turn left towards Sidcup Road/A20 and cross over the pedestrian footbridge and take a sharp and then a slight right towards Sidcup Road/A20 for 0.4 miles and then turn right and then a left into the entrance to the ground.
By Bus – The best bet is to get the 233 from Swanley, Sidcup, Eltham or New Eltham which stops on Thaxted Road but is around 0.8 miles to the ground. From Chislehurst station the 162 bus which starts in Bromley stops on Slades Drive where you can access the public footpath opposite the bus stop and is around a ten minute walk to the ground. This bus also stops at New Eltham Station for your return journey.
TAXIS – TAXIS – ALL DAY CARS – NEW ELTHAM – 020 8850 0032
Nearest Hotel: Premier Inn London Eltham
738 Sidcup Road, Eltham, London
SE9 3NS
Sat Nav Directions:SE9 3TJ
Directions:
From South Circular Road, take A20 Sidcup Bypass until you reach Fiveways, where Sidcup Road meets Green Lane Premier Inn Eltham is situated on the corner and the entrance to the car park is on Green Lane.
https://www.premierinn.com/gb/en/hotels/england/greater-london/london/london-eltham.html
The Car Park is free for supporters and there should be space between 700-800 cars on site. Please note bays in front of the main entrance are reserved for club officials.
Close to New Eltham Station are the Beehive pub plus the Pope Street Bar & Kitchen and the Nest offers hot drinks/alcoholic drinks and live music. There are also places to eat and a wide range of takeaway outlets as well as Fish & Chip and a Pie & Mash shop. Alternatively if you travel from Sidcup there are a wide range of pubs to choose from.
