Cray Wanderers vs Lewes – Isthmian Premier – Saturday 11th April, 3 pm – Match Preview
Pics: Steve Cullum and Natalie Stribbling
With just three league games left in the 2025-26 season Cray Wanderers play the first of back to back home matches on Saturday as Lewes are the visitors to Flamingo Park. Kick off 3 pm.
Both teams will come into the game on the back of Easter Monday wins and although Cray and Lewes are outsiders for the playoffs/relegation there will still be plenty at stake.
The Wands lie seventh in the Isthmian Premier League table on sixty four points and are six behind fifth placed Chatham Town and seven behind Brentwood Town in fourth. Cray are four points behind Dartford in sixth and level on points with Burgess Hill Town in eighth with the Wands having a better goal difference. Aveley and Billericay Town look certain to occupy two of the four playoff places at the end of the season with Brentwood away to Carshalton Athletic who need the points to steer clear of relegation while Chatham are at home to Wingate & Finchley. Dartford visit relegated Canvey Island while Burgess Hill are at home to Cheshunt.
Cray bounced back from the bitter disappointment of the last gasp defeat in the last home match with Billericay Town last Saturday by producing a controlled performance to win 2-1 at Cray Valley on Easter Monday. Frankie Raymond set the early tone with a crashing strike before the hosts levelled before half time. Cray though taking advantage of a quadruple substitution with twenty minutes to go produced instant dividends when Shae Hutchinson, formerly of Lewes struck a great finish to win the game in the seventy fourth minute. This made it just two defeats in twenty away matches this season.
The Wands with the exception of Tom Bonner who misses the remaining matches should be at full strength and will be looking to at least finish the season with three wins to finish on seventy three points and cap a more than satisfactory campaign.
Lewes will come into the game in sixteenth place on forty five points. The Rooks are seven clear of Welling United and Hashtag United who occupy the fourth from bottom position with Cray Valley in twentiefth place a point behind. Lewes are five points clear of Carshalton Athletic in seventeenth place. So in theory forth five points should be a position of safety especially as Hashtag host Cray Valley on Saturday while Welling who have a game in hand against Potters Bar Town next Tuesday host Dulwich Hamlet but Lewes have an inferior goal difference to the teams below them.
Lewes also bounced back from a last gasp defeat at Potters Bar on Good Friday by beating Whitehawk 3-0 in an East Sussex derby at the Dripping Pan. An early goal from top scorer Devonte West was followed by second half strikes from Alfie Allen and Bobby Unwin.
The Rooks much like last season started the season well with four wins in the opening five league games and could have been five from six but for Cray’s comeback from 0-2 down to draw at Lewes on 6th September. Lewes led 2-0 at half time through goals from Arezki Hamouchene and Finlay Chadwick but the Wands fought back against what as a ten man Lewes side for the last half hour with goals from Ashley Nzala and Quade Taylor in added time.
Craig Nelson who returned to Lewes as manager in October from former Wand Bradley Pritchard saw his side around the top ten for the early stages of the campaign but it was a run of no wins in eight during February-March which pushed Lewes to the lower reaches of the table. Lewes have lost the last four away from home but are unbeaten in three at home.
Away from home Lewes have won at Carshalton Athletic (2-1), Welling United (1-0), Dulwich Hamlet (4-1) and Canvey Island (1-0). They drew at Cray Valley (1-1), Hashtag United (3-3) and Cheshunt (0-0) but their remaining games ended in defeat at St Albans City (0-3), Chichester City (0-3), Aveley (0-3), Folkestone Invicta (0-6), Wingate & Finchley (0-2), Burgess Hill Town (1-2), Ramsgate (0-3), Billericay Town (0-3), Whitehawk (1-3), Brentwood Town (1-2), Dartford (1-4) and Potters Bar Town (1-2). Devonte West is the leading scoring with ten goals.
The Wands record in league games against Lewes is not great with the only win coming in the Covid hit 2019-20 season with Cray winning 2-1 at Hayes Lane in January 2020 with goals from Karl Dent and Jay Leader. The first ever meeting at Flamingo Park last season on 24th August 2024 saw Lewes win 3-1 with goals from Eddie Alsopp, and former Wands Danny Bassett and Marcus Sablier.
Both teams are more than capable of putting on a show and it should be a great game to watch between traditionally two good footballing sides.
Admission £15 adults, £10 concessions, £5 U18-17s on the gate or online at www.cray-wanderers.com/tickets/. Printed Match programme £3 (on the turnstile), merchandise, golden goal tickets (£1), hot and cold food including DoughJoes Pizza and drinks, bars – Large outdoor screen.
THe THOUGHTS/PROGRAMME NOTES OF TIM O’SHEA
Cray Wanderers head into the final three fixtures of the season still with an outside chance of the playoffs after a bitter-sweet Easter. The gutwrenching home defeat to Billericay Town last Saturday was followed by a solid local derby success at Cray Valley PM on Monday. Here Tim O’Shea reflects on the two games, a welcome to Shae Hutchinson, the challenge Lewes will pose today and a thank you to the Cray Massive.
Hello Tosh. I hope that you had a great Easter after the hectic double-header of games.
Yes, I did but it was a very tough start to Easter with the Billericay defeat but Monday’s win at Cray Valley more than made up for it.
Let’s touch on the Billericay Town game as I know you did the interview with Luca Viscogliosi after the game. It was a tremendous game of football between two sides in great form and one which both teams played well. What are the thoughts that go through a manager’s head when you have scored three goals against a top side, played well but end up getting beaten when you couldn’t have done much more?
I thought we were the better side for the best part of sixty five/seventy minutes. I felt we certainly deserved to be ahead at the break after a good first half performance. I was bitterly disappointed with Billericay’s first goal as that was avoidable and I think if it was 2-0 at half time then we probably go on and win the game.
That goal gave Billericay a momentum swing going into half time. Second half we came out again and were a bit up against it but we went on to score a third but I don’t know if the players thought that was the job done and over but their second goal once again gave them that bit of forward momentum with the calibre of players they can bring on and have at their disposal they were always going to keep going until the end.
I felt that to score three goals against Aveley and then Billericay the next week showed that we belong at the higher end of the table on merit and Billericay saw that as a big three points at the end.
Definitely, again Billericay Town and manager Danny Scopes was very complimentary like a number of clubs have been about us recently. It was a very hard defeat to take but we have played two very good in form sides back to back and I don’t think you could begrudge us beating Aveley and the bitterly disappointing thing about Saturday was that to actually get nothing out of the Billericay game was tough. Fortunately though forty eight hours later we had another game against our local rivals so not enough time to wallow in self-pity and immediately back at it.
Moving on to Monday’s game at Cray Valley with a lot still at stake especially for the home side. Kevin Lisbie’s team had had a bounce of two straight wins but I thought we put in a controlled performance helped along by Frankie Raymond’s early goal and I thought we deserved the win at the end.
We did indeed, and as you say they were quite high after those back to back wins which they probably hadn’t done for a while. We had to lick our wounds after Saturday but it showed what great character there is in the team to go there and you are right, it was a controlled performance and it shows what we are about. To bring on four substitutes in Jordy Mongoy, Ralfi Hand, Shae Hutchinson and Max Fiddes with twenty minutes to go and they went on to perform like they did it shows it is all about the whole squad. They become game changers now and not just substitutes as we needed fresh legs. Don’t get me wrong it was a tight game but I thought we were deserving winners.
It was Shae Hutchinson who scored the winner for us. For those supporters who may not have known much about Shae before the game what can you tell us about him as it was certainly a memorable and well taken goal to win the match. I know that he started out in the youth and U23s set up at Norwich City.
Shae has got a lot of talent, he is nice and quick, great feet. The winning goal was with his weaker foot which makes the goal so special. We came across him last season when he played for Lewes and was keeping Josh Williams out of their team for long periods which tells you something. He is exciting but is probably having to have this period to learn what we want from a wide player in regards to both sides of the game offensively and defensively. He is a talented lad, has waited patiently and been training well.
He was at Norwich City and when you play for them the club have a strong track record of bringing good young players through and a good footballing side and he is a major talent. He scores goal like on Monday all the time in training and we are blessed to have four great wide players in Ola Ogunwamide, Lateef Adaja, Jordy Mongoy and now Shae which is a nice problem to have.
Let’s look to today and the challenge of Lewes. Lewes have had a season not too dissimilar to last season where they began strongly and tailed off halfway through. They have forty five points and should be safe after their win against Whitehawk on Monday but we always have tough games against any Rooks side and good contests.
Yes, very good contests and Lewes are always a good footballing side. They had an emphatic win against Whitehawk on Monday so they will arrive confident with nothing to lose and probably safe and can play with a bit of freedom. Then again so can we and the boys are enjoying it. It will be a hard game but with two home matches back to back we want to send our fans away with something positive to talk about.
I think whatever happens in the last three games we have had a great season haven’t we and still with something to play for. I know the fans have been enjoying the season and probably want it to drag along for a while longer
That’s right especially now the sun is shining. No we have, we really, really have had a good season and if we can get seventy three points after these three games and we still just miss out on the playoffs then that must show how good those teams above us must be. It has been great but I can’t hear that fat lady singing just yet but we can only do what we can do. I’ve been super proud of the players with just six defeats in the league all season.
That’s right and just two defeats away from home from twenty games. That is realistically playoffs form with perhaps a fair number of draws but many of those like at Lewes, Dulwich, Chatham Town twice, Cheshunt, Canvey Island and Hashtag came from losing positions. Even against Aveley having been pegged to 2-2 went back up the other end and had the fortitude to go on and win the game.
I always look back on games like Canvey away where we missed two penalties in the first half so that is two points lost. We have battered Ramsgate at home and came out if it with a draw. You don’t have to look too far at games where we should have had six points minimum on what total we end up with and that is going to be the hard part I think.
In closing Mark can you please pass on thanks to the Cray Massive on Monday at Cray Valley and throughout the season. The noise and level of support was a great help to the players especially as we needed a big lift after Saturday and that support helped us get over the line and a big three points and raised our spirits so much. The support has never been not noticed but myself, management team and players thank you all as it makes such a difference.
DIRECTIONS TO FLAMINGO PARK FOR NEWCOMERS
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 and the club house hosts live music and private events. Bexley FC 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 – – 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.
