Cray Wanderers vs Potters Bar Town
Isthmian Premier – Saturday 11th January – Match Report
Cray Wanderers 1
Coker 7 mins
Potters Bar Town 0
Cray Wanderers moved up to 9th in the Isthmian Premier League table after a sixth one nil win in eight games and a sixteenth clean sheet court esy of Kenny Coker’s seventh minute header completed a league double over Potters Bar Town.
On a chilly afternoon the game was played at a decent pace and Cray were the more potent side in the first half and aside from Coker’s goal came close to scoring in the half through Nyren Clunis twice, Josh Williams, Frankie Raymond and Nathan Jeche. The second half was more scrappy as the temperature got colder but Cray still had the edge until injury time when Shaun Rowley continued his superb form by making two saves to deny Louie Henry and in the fifth minute a fine one handed push over to Rickie Hayles shot.
The win moved Cray onto 35 points in 9th place nine points off the playoffs and twelve points clear of the bottom four.
Ahead of the game the club were visited by a film crew from the Premier League filming an advertisement for the importance of grassroots football and many supporters will appear in the advert to screen in due course.
Neil Smith’s side had sat out last Saturday after the game at Wingate & Finchley was called off and from the side which started against Dulwich Hamlet on New Year’s Day there were two changes with Kenny Coker and George Penn coming in for the injured Charlie Edwards and the suspended Lateef Adaja. There were two new signings on the bench, midfielder Eze Ebuozeme most recently with Folkestone Invicta and young striker Ollie Rawlins on dual registration from Dorking Wanderers. Potters Bar Town were 10th coming into the game and had won 2-1 at Canvey Island on Tuesday night and named an unchanged side.
The game started with thankfully blue skies leaving a false sense of security to how cold it would become later in the match. The match started quickly with for Cray, Josh Williams was very much to the fore down the left.
Cray have had a tendency in the last few home games to leave it late to score but here the Wands broke the deadlock early and in the 7th minute took the lead when Frankie Raymond and Nathan Jeche combined to find Williams down the left and his cross to the far post fell invitingly to Coker who planted a towering header high into the net.
From here Cray looked to cement the advantage with a second goal and Nyren Clunis who had a great game saw a shot held by Laurie Scala.. Then down the left, Williams lashed a shot wide.
Then Clunis worked an opening in the area but his stabbed shot just lacked sufficient power by Shala had to get down to save. This was followed by Ike Orji’s right wing cross just missing Williams in the area and then the hard working Nathan Jeche saw a shot saved by Shala.
Potters Bar finally got more of a foothold in the game and on the half hour threatened from a free kick from twenty five yards when Khale de Costa fired over the top.
Then, from a corner down the right, Da Costa’s cross into the area fell to Ricki Hayles but was held by Shaun Rowley.
For Cray, Frankie Raymond hit a volley which hit the post behind the right post while for Potters Bar Town a free kick played into the area was glanced towards goal by Steve Cawley but well claimed by Rowley.
The last chance of the half came to Cray when after Clunis saw a shot blocked, Jeche steered a header just wide of the left post.
HT: 1-0
The start of the second half saw the temperature drop and the game became much more scrappier but with Cray having an element of control of the match.
For Potters Bar, Cawley shot across goal while for Cray, a good passing move saw Jeche and Williams set up Clunis for a shot held.
Then Josh Williams fired well over the top before Eze Ebuozeme and Ollie Rawlins came on for their Wands debuts.
For Cray, Clunis saw a shot blocked while Potters Bar hung in the game but the superb Tom Bonner and Remi Sutton at the back, joined just after half time by Quade Taylor were rock solid and kept Shaun Rowley well protected.
Cray did come close to a second eight minutes from time when Williams and another star performer, Darion Dowrich combined to find Rawlins who hit a well struck shot towards the right post which was well claimed by Shala.
The Wands couldn’t quite get that second goal to confirm the three points and towards the end Potters Bar certainly became more of a threat.
In the second of five added on minutes, the Scholars came close when Nana Kyei and Bailey Stevenson found Louis Henry inside the area but his shot was saved by Rowley’s legs.
However, Rowley kept his best save to last when with just thirty seconds to go, Hayles who had a very good game for Potters Bar saw a goalbound shot pushed over one handed by the Wands custodian for a corner.
The Wands saw out the pressure and at the end had worked extremely hard for the three points which made it six wins in the last nine games keeping up a great defensive record whilst scoring one goal a game but it is hard to recall especially at this high level of a better Wands defensive record at this stage of the season conceding just 26 goals in 25 games.
Another positive on a very cold day was the crowd of 761 and shows the importance of the move into Flamingo Park and since the start of the season there has been some remarkable positive reviews from ground hoppers, vloggers and new local fans. With Cray now picking up points things are looking very positive for the club.
Cray now head on their travels for three games starting at Hastings United next Saturday, 18th January, 3 pm with hopefully much more warmer temperatures.
Cray Wanderers: Shaun Rowley, Ike Orji (Quade Taylor, 55), Remi Sutton, Tom Bonner, Darion Dowrich, Frankie Raymond, George Penn, Nyren Clunis, Josh Williams, Nathan Jeche (Ollie Rawlins, 71), Kenny Coker (Eze Ebouzeme, 60): Subs: Frankie Moralee, Michael Ihiedi
Booked: Penn 22, Orji 43, Raymond 66
Potters Bar Town: Laurie Shala, Prosper Keto (Harvey Steel, H/T), Louie Henry, Joe Re, Rickie Hayles, Ronnie Henry, Khale da Costa, Ryan Doherty, Brandon Adams, Steve Cawley (Nana Kyei, 63), Bailey Stevenson: Subs: Tom Lethbridge, Ayo Shogbeni, Harry Brant
Booked: Stevenson 23, Keto 43, Adams 63
Referee: Callum Peter
Assistants: Jack Owen, Gavin Farrington
Att: 761
