Cray Wanderers vs Lewes – Isthmian Premier – Saturday 10th October, 3 pm – Match Preview
Cray Wanderers take a break from cup ties to return to Isthmian Premier League action on Saturday as the Wands welcome Lewes for their second visit to Flamingo Park this season. Kick off 3 pm.
This will be Cray’s first home league fixture since 15th September but since then a lot has happened with the FA Cup and FA Trophy but before those competitions resume the Wands focus will be on moving up the league table ahead of a steady period of Tuesday-Saturday fixtures through October-November. Cray stand 12th in the table with twelve points albeit having only played eight games with the last league outing a 5-1 win at Maldon & Tiptree on 29th September.
Last Saturday Cray Wanderers continued to seek club history after a professionally controlled but at time deadly lethal performance to beat Chippenham Town in the FA Cup 3QR. Two cracking first half goals burst open the tie before the twenty minute mark with Ola Ogunwamide making it three in four and four for the season with a superbly created goal from outside the box. Two minutes later Ade Yusuff who has been in great form made it nine goals in league and cup with a close range finish to Lateef Adaja’s cross. Lateef Adaja who recently made his 100th appearance for the club made it three with this first goal of the season in the second half and a professional job was done and back to back clean sheets in the FA Cup for JJ Briggs.
Cray now await a tough trip to Bedford Town next Saturday in the 4th Qualifying Round seeking a first ever appearance in the 1st Round Proper although all thoughts and focus must be on a good Rooks side who stand fifth in the table and one of Tim O’Shea’s previous clubs.
On Tuesday night a mixture of 1st team and U23s players advanced to the 2nd Round of the Kent Senior Cup beating Punjab United 2-0 with Leyton Orient loanee Jakob Lowe scoring twice taking his total of goals to three with Oscar Johnson in goal yet to concede in two and a half games in goal.
With an FA Trophy visit to Berkhamsted Town on 24th October certainly the cup excitement is in stark contrast to last season but with a number of league games upcoming including away trips to Cheshunt, Stanway Rovers and Dulwich Hamlet it will be important to stay in touch with the upper half of the league table.
Craig Nelson’s Lewes side have been one of the early pacemakers in the first couple of months bouncing back from a first day defeat to Enfield to then go five unbeaten before a recent run of two wins and two league defeats. Last Saturday Lewes won local bragging rights as Mackenzie Richardson’s 86th minute winner defeated Whitehawk 1-0 at the Dripping Pan in front of crowd of not much under 2000 fans.
Away from home Lewes have won at St Albans City (2-0) and Aveley (2-0) and drawn at Whitehawk (0-0). The Rooks were beaten at Chatham Town (2-3) and Cheshunt (1-3). At home Lewes beat AFC Whyteleafe (3-1), Eastbourne Borough (1-0), Carshalton Athletic (3-0) and Whitehawk (1-0). Their only home defeat came against Enfield Town. In the FA Trophy, Lewes were beaten at Uxbridge.
The Wands and the Rooks have already met over two close games in the 1st Qualifying Round of the FA Cup with the sides drawing 2-2 at Lewes on 5th September. Goals from Ade Yusuff and Soul Kader put Cray two up before two late Charlie Walker goals meant a replay three nights later. There, Cray won 1-0 with Alex Hernandez scoring early in the second half to make it through.
The two league meetings last season ended in another 2-2 draw at Lewes in September 2025 and a 3-0 win for Cray on 11th April at Flamingo Park with two goals from Alex Hernandez and a Dan Ajakaiye strike.
The teams have met a number of times in Isthmian league competition with Lewes having the better of the series with twelve wins to four for Cray although two of those were in the expunged season of 2019-20 with six draws.
These are exciting times for Cray Wanderers on and off the field at the moment with a new stand behind the Golf Club end of the ground taking shape and the Wands winning the Team Performance of the Month for September for the FA Cup win at Maidstone shows a lot of good things going on at Flamingo Park.
Admission £15 adults, £10 concessions, £5 u17-18s, U16s free with accompanying adult. Pay at the gate or online at www.cray-wanderers.com/tickets. Printed match programme, £3, teamsheets available from 2.30, golden goal tickets £1, merchandise, hot and cold food/drinks – Bars – Large TV Screen and TV’s upstairs with the long awaited return of the Premier League/EFL with Arsenal v Leeds, Charlton V Bristol City at 12. 30 and Manchester United v Tottenham at 5.30pm.
The Pre-Match Thoughts/Programme Notes of Tim O’Shea
Hello Tosh.
Congratulations to you and the team on reaching the 4th Qualifying Round of the FA Cup for the fourth time and second time in three seasons last Saturday. I thought it was a very professional performance against Chippenham Town and a great way to follow on from the Maidstone United win.
Yes it was, you know that every opposition are going to have their moments in games and there were times when they had pressure and opportunities but I felt for the vast majority of the game we were controlled and ruthless in front of goal. There was a twenty minutes spell just after the fifteenth minute to thirty-fifth where I thought we were really dangerous and threatening and deservedly got our two goals.
I thought after that power play two minutes with Ola and Ade’s goals that sitting in the stand there was a buzz of excitement after that I hadn’t felt at Flamingo Park before.
Yes and with that buzz it shows there was a decent crowd there which I was hoping would happen for the boys because there are deserving of a good crowd and I felt they reacted to that buzz. Some of the play I felt in large periods of that game on Saturday were controlled but equally dangerous at the same time.
One player who deserved his goal and accolades on Saturday was Lateef Adaja who scored the decisive goal with around twenty minutes to go which would have killed off any hopes of a Chippenham comeback. You must have been very pleased for Lateef in scoring his first of the season!
I think Lateef has had a stop-start season through injury through being hospitalised for a week so he has had a disruptive first six weeks or so. I think he is starting to find his legs and fitness for peak form and I think now you are seeing the Lateef we know and love. I am pleased for him and he is certainly a talent and very important in where we want to get to.
Finally, JJ Briggs who of course saved the decisive penalty at Cheshunt in the Trophy and then saved another to deny Chippenham a consolation and a second clean sheet in the FA Cup.
Yes, JJ has come in seamless really which is sometimes difficult for a goalkeeper but you would think he has been there for a while. He has settled down, he’s enjoying it and getting a good understanding with the three or four boys in front of him. He has been a nice calming influence all round and a pleasure to work with.
We know now that we will be travelling to Bedford Town in the 4th qualifying round next weekend. They play in the National North and used to playing the likes of Chester, Chorley and Macclesfield so perhaps a different type of challenge to what we are used to.
Very much so. They have some serious talent in their squad, the likes of George Moncur who played league football. They will be favourites on their own patch as well but we’ve knocked out a team who are top of the National South equivalent so we have nothing to lose. It will be a good day out for the Cray Massive and hopefully we can put in a good account of ourselves. So who knows!
Just a quick shout out for Tuesday night with Cray advancing past Punjab United in the Kent Senior Cup with a mix of first team and fine young talent. I know many of the Wands fans there on Tuesday were impressed with the youngsters performances.
Yes, there is some excellent young talent in that team who were graced by some first team players who needed a few more minutes in their legs. Roy Brooke and the remaining of the U23s Managers work tirelessly to always produce good players. This is so important to a first team that hasn’t the biggest number squad. You are always looking for the ones who are in form and may be deserving of a place on the bench for the first team. That will continue there is no two ways around it and today there is the possibility you will see one or two more on the bench.
Let’s look ahead to today and the visit of Lewes as we return briefly to league action. We have already played the Rooks twice in the FA Cup this season so we will know what they are all about.
Yes, and they have also brought in one or two since we last played them. Always a good, tough team to play against, Craig Nelson has them playing some fantastic football. On their day they can be one of the better sides in the division without a doubt and they are where they are in the league for a reason in fifth place which shows their consistency. I certainly would like to be in their position but with the cup run it does get in the way as lovely as it is but this is what it is all about. It is a huge ask in sandwiching between cup ties to raise that standard of performance but they are an honest bunch our lads and I’m sure they will be focused. We need to be and at our best against Lewes.
