Cray Wanderers vs Lewes – Isthmian Premier – Saturday 24th August, 3 pm – Match Preview
The August Bank Holiday weekend starts on Saturday 24th August for Cray Wanderers with the first of a quick fire double header as Isthmian Premier League leaders Lewes are the visitors for the first Saturday afternoon league match at Flamingo Park. Kick off 3 pm.
The Wands who visit Dulwich Hamlet on Bank Holiday Monday will be looking to bounce back after back to back league defeats against Cray Valley (PM) and Hendon following a fine win at Hashtag United on the opening day of the season and are 16th in the league table.
Cray who were rocked during the Cray Valley (PM) game by injuries to Tom Bonner who had begun the season impressively and Archie Johnson so prior to the trip to Hendon signed Harrison Sodje and Emmanuel Kwatchey who both had impressed during lengthy loan spells over the last couple of seasons. Despite losing 3-1 at Hendon, Cray played well in the second half with Nyren Clunis notching his first goal of the season and will be looking to build on that improvement against what will be a confident Lewes side.
Perhaps the highlight in the early weeks of the season has been the fact that Cray Wanderers finally have a home of their own which has led to some very positive articles, blogs, vlogs and reports from across the non-league football spectrum. This spotlight has given the club certainly off the field an impetus in terms of fan support with around 900 applications received for season tickets after a promotional offer during the summer and a crowd of 840 for the Cray derby is a fine benchmark to set for the rest of the season. The club has established a foundation with an U23s side this season and with the Women’s team playing in the SCEWFL Premier and a thriving youth set up for boys and girls the future is bright in providing a pathway to the first teams and producing homegrown talent.
Lewes are the only side to have won all three of their opening games of the season and this season have come under new management with Craig Nelson arriving at the Rooks from Glebe along with coach Frankie Sawyer. The Rooks finished 8th last season nine points off the playoffs but finished with five straight wins so are currently on a run of eight consecutive league wins with what is virtually a new side from the 2023-24 season.
Lewes begun the season with a 2-0 win at home to Chatham Town with goals form Matt Warren and ex-Wand Danny Bassett and followed that up with a 1-0 win at Bognor Regis Town with an Eddie Allsopp goal on 13th August. Last Saturday, the Rooks came from an early goal down to beat Hashtag United, 2-1 with goals from Warren and Allsopp. Along with Danny Bassett who was top scorer in the 2022-23 season for Cray also Ethan Kaiser, Jack Enkh and Marcus Sablier have played for the Wands in the last few seasons.
Last season’s encounters ended in 1-0 for Lewes on the opening day of the season at the Dripping Pan and finished 1-1 at Hayes Lane on 6th January with Tayo Oyebola scoring for Cray with Kalvin Lumbombo-Kalala levelling late on for Lewes.
There will be live football screened in the bar from 12.30 and also live music from the 3 Masons band providing entertainment as Cray Wanderers continue to seek to make every game an event in the first season at Flamingo Park.
Admission £12 adults, £6 concessions, U18s. Tickets on gate or online at www.cray-wanderers.com/tickets/ Millwall season ticket holders not travelling to Hull City on presentation of ticket have free admission with half price for members.
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CRAY WANDERERS vs. LEWES- THE PRE-MATCH THOUGHTS OF NEIL SMITH
Cray Wanderers go into the August Bank Holiday weekend double header starting on Saturday with the visit of early league leaders Lewes to Flamingo Park, followed by a trip to Dulwich Hamlet on Monday. Here Neil looks back to the last couple of matches against Cray Valley and Hendon and the challenge Lewes will pose today.
Hello Neil. Since the opening day win at Hashtag United the Wands have played Cray Valley (PM) & Hendon which both ended in defeat. What are your thoughts on the last couple of matches and results?
Obviously, I am disappointed at the losses and also losing someone like Tom Bonner as we did against Cray Valley. He has shown for us just what sort of player he is but had to come off after twenty five minutes against Cray Valley. Bless him, Archie Johnson come in and I think they highlighted him a little bit but had been brilliant all pre-season. Then we had to lose him near the end and may have to lose five or six teeth. So all in all, it wasn’t a great game for us.
Then on Saturday against Hendon, we’ve had to bring in new bodies all the time with no real time to gel. We had half a pitch on a Thursday looking to do a little bit of team shape so it has been difficult. From the players that come in, Harrison Sodje who hasn’t played many games and Manny Kwatchey having had trials at a number of league clubs without getting a look in so I appreciate them coming in at such short notice. On Saturday the first half just wasn’t good enough all over the park so I changed it at half time and I thought the younger guys who came on did exceptionally well. If we hadn’t given the sloppy third goal away there could have been a chance of us getting back into the game. So all in all disappointing results and performances. I can take a loss but the second half against Cray Valley we didn’t really create anything and then the first half against a Hendon side that have been together and have momentum and we have to try to get that momentum from the boys that we have here and not have to keep looking for new players so early on in the season. We need the team to gel and hopefully after Tuesday and Thursday night training sessions gives us a chance against top of the table Lewes.
Let’s look ahead to the weekend and matches against Lewes and Dulwich Hamlet, traditionally two of the favourites to be in the promotion shakeup. Lewes visit us today as the only side to win their first three games which were all close matches so sit top of the table and are a club under management so it should be a great game for our first home Saturday fixture.
Absolutely, it should be a great game. Lewes are a big and cracking club who have been looking to go for promotions the last couple of seasons and I don’t doubt that is one of their ambitions for this season. They are under new management in Craig Nelson and I know their coach Frankie Sawyer very well and both did a great job at Glebe when they were pushing for promotion so whether they rode their luck to win those three games or not you look to get whatever you can this early in the season. We know it will be a difficult game with the players they have there like the Marcus Sablier’s of this world. We are at home so hopefully the weather will be nice, a bumper crowd will be there again and get behind us.
Then on Monday we go to Dulwich Hamlet which you would imagine would be another huge crowd for a Bank Holiday and where we got such a great result to finish last season.
Yes, obviously they are going to be one of the favourites to get promotion this season and would have been disappointed not to get anywhere near the playoffs last season. They have invested and recruited very well but the majority of the players up front are the same as last season although they have signed George Porter and the defense is pretty much the same as well so it will be a hard game against one of the promotion contenders. Hopefully we will go there with a little bit less pressure on us and more on them.
DIRECTIONS TO FLAMINGO PARK
Cray Wanderers FC – 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.
By Train – Nearest BR Station – New Eltham – 1 mile. Trains from London Charing Cross/London Cannon Street/London Bridge or from Dartford/Gravesend.
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. The 160 from Carlton Road, Sidcup stops at Montbelle Road as does the 162 which also stops at New Eltham Station and the Fiveways roundabout and is around a 22 minutes walk to the ground.
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
