Cray Wanderers vs Hashtag United – Isthmian Premier – Saturday 2nd November – Match Preview
The month of November on Saturday as Cray Wanderers host Hashtag United in a reversal of the opening day of the season fixtures.
With both teams needing points to move up the table this could be one of the key games of the afternoon with Cray on 9 points in 21st place with Hashtag on 10 points in 19th place.
The Wands come into the game unbeaten in three in the league and with three clean sheets following a hard fought but merited 1-0 win at Cheshunt last Saturday. Charlie Edwards 77th minute winner had a stroke of fortune about it but Cray were due a piece of luck after having little in the previous two games.
On Tuesday night a side with a mix of 1st team and U23s players were beaten by Phoenix Sports on penalties in the Kent Senior Cup after a 2-2 draw with Stefan Ilic and Simon Offei Gymara scoring but the key element of the exercise was to give vital minutes to the likes of David Ijaha, Perri Iandolo, Adrian Owiredu-Gyamera, Ilic and also Anthony Cook alongside some promising youngsters.
Hashtag United also won in midweek at home to Grays in the Isthmian League Cup, 6-1 with six different scorers, Carmilo Restrepo, Jermain Anderson, Sakaryia Hassan, Max Cornhill, Darren Foxley and top scorer Misha Djemaili.
Jay Devearaux’s side also won at Dulwich Hamlet in the FA Trophy on penalties last Saturday after a 1-1 draw and now face Brackley Town at home in the 2nd Round on 16th November.
The teams met on the opening day of the season at Parkside with Cray winning 2-0 with goals from Frankie Raymond and Dontai Stewart with Shaun Rowley saving a penalty in between. The only other league game at Cray Wanderers was at Hayes Lane in April 2024 with Hashtag winning 3-1 with goals from Luke May-Parrott, Sakirya Hassan and Pedro Carvalho with Tom Bonner scoring for Cray.
Away from home Hashtag have won at Canvey Island (2-1) and Cheshunt (4-3), drawn with Folkestone Invicta (1-1) and were beaten at Lewes (1-2), Billericay Town (1-2) and Dover Athletic (2-4). At home Hashtag beat Hastings United (4-0) and were beaten by Cray Wanderers, Horsham and Carshalton Athletic. In the FA Cup, Hashtag beat Stotfold in 1st Qualifying Round before losing at Hornchurch while in the FA Trophy, United have beaten Hitchin Town and Dulwich Hamlet to keep their run going into the 2nd Round.
With Cray having four away league games in a row to come in November, this match gives a chance for the Wands to achieve that elusive home league win and head on their travels in good heart.
Admission £12/£6 on the gate or online at www.cray-wanderers.com/tickets/, match programme £3, golden goal tickets £1, merchandise, programmes, books on sale, hot food/drinks/bars + the 100 Club Draw for October. Gates Open at 12.15 with the Newcastle United v Arsenal match shown live in the clubhouse.
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THE PRE-MATCH THOUGHTS/PROGRAMME NOTES OF NEIL SMITH
November for Cray Wanderers begins this afternoon with the visit of Hashtag United for the first time to Flamingo Park. Here Neil Smith looks back to the positives of Tuesday night’s Kent Senior Cup tie with Phoenix Sports and thoughts for today before a run of away games for the Wands.
Hello Neil. Tuesday night saw us up against Phoenix Sports in the Kent Senior cup with the side a mixture of first team players needing minutes like David Ijaha, Perri Iandolo, Anthony Cook and also some excellent young talent from the U23s who didn’t look out of place. What are your thoughts on the evening?
It was good because the game was used for the purpose of giving some senior players game time. Cookie was superb playing up front, Stefan Ilic got some more minutes in, David Ijaha, Perri Iandolo who has just come in and Adrian Owiredu-Gyamera too.
The best thing about the game was that we had so many young kids coming through who were playing against Phoenix’s first team and took them right to the wire. Bobby Parks was amazing, Ed Mare at the back was great, George Brooke on the left wing, Simon Offei Gymara who scored the second goal who was on trial who did very well. Then you had the five subs who came on, also Max Huxter in goal who was playing only his second game since he got injured when I first came into the club and again he did himself proud.
During the game I was standing with the U23s manager Roy Brooke in the dugout and there are not many clubs that would have given so many young players a chance playing against a first team although a division lower than us.
Let’s move on to today’s game against Hashtag United. We are getting to that point of the season where we start to play teams for the second time in the league. We beat Hashtag 2-0 on the opening day of the season but they have been fairly consistent since then.
At the moment it is very hard to judge all the teams in the league at the moment as anyone can beat anyone and Hashtag are one of those clubs. On paper they have a very good team like we do and we did beat them back in August on the opening day. I think looking back at the last three games we deserved the points we picked up in those matches and perhaps should have been more because of the chances we created. It will be a tough game and perhaps strange to play them again before we have played some of the clubs even once. We expect it to be hard and it is an important match for us and the boys and that is why I rested so many on Tuesday night to give us a better chance of picking up six points against them. We are at home and we are preparing ourselves to the best of our ability to get that win. We have a huge local derby at Cray Valley on Tuesday night but our main priority before that is to win this afternoon.
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DIRECTIONS TO FLAMINGO PARK FOR NEWCOMERS
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.
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.
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.
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.
