Cray Wanderers vs Billericay Town – Isthmian Premier – Saturday 21st December, 3 pm – Match Preview
Cray Wanderers play their pre-Christmas home fixture on Saturday 21st December in the Isthmian Premier as Billericay Town are the visitors to Flamingo Park for the first time. Kick off 3 pm.
The match sees the start of a busy four match spell leading up to New Years Day with Cray Wanderers playing three home games starting with 2nd placed Billericay Town.
Cray go into the match with confidence after a four game unbeaten run, winning the last three 1-0 including one of the performances of the season in winning at league leaders Dover Athletic last Saturday and becoming the first side to prevent them from scoring. The Wands are 17th in the league table on twenty five points following midweek matches but are only six points behind 5th placed Chatham Town.
The win at Dover was remarkable as the Wands were without experienced players Tom Bonner, Remi Sutton and Charlie Edwards and included two loanee debutants Frankie-Jay Moralee and George Penn signed only on the Friday. One of the experienced heads, Nyren Clunis scored the winner just after half time with Josh Williams close to a second when he hit the post and in the end a standout rearguard action saw out the win. The game also saw Shaun Rowley keep the thirteenth clean sheet in league and cups this season which is remarkable for a side in the lower half of the table.
With games over the festive period to follow Saturday against Dartford on Boxing Day who have risen into the playoff places, Hendon who have had a fine start to the season and Dulwich Hamlet on New Year’s Day the games come thick and fast but Cray are in a good position to go into the schedule with confidence.
Billericay Town are certainly one of the favourites to earn promotion this season and Gary McCann’s side were unbeaten for the first thirteen matches of the league season. Despite a couple of November defeats they have continued to be a leading challenger to Dover Athletic and on 38 points are five behind the leaders, level with Cray Valley PM. With this season promising to be a close one that could go right to the wire, the Blues are certainly capable of lasting the distance.
Last Saturday, Billericay Town drew 1-1 at home to Hastings United with Todd Miller scoring after Hastings took an early lead and are four games unbeaten. Billericay finished 6th last season three points off the playoffs and won both matches against Cray last season. A 1-0 win at Hayes Lane in August 2023 was followed by a 6-0 win at home in January 2024. The Wands last win against Billericay Town was a remarkable 4-3 win in December 2022 courtesy of Sam Skeffington’s 98th minute winner.
Away form has seen wins at Folkestone Invicta (3-0), Dulwich Hamlet (1-0) and Wingate & Finchley (1-0) and drew at Chatham Town (1-1), Cheshunt (1-1), Cray Valley PM (1-1), Lewes (2-2) and Whitehawk (0-0). Their only defeats in the league came at Carshalton Athletic (3-4) and Chichester City (1-3). At home Billericay have been very strong beating Whitehawk (3-0), Hashtag United (2-1), Bognor Regis Town (4-0), Dartford (4-0), Bowers & Pitsea (2-1), Hendon (1-0) and Horsham (2-1) and drew with Dover Athletic and Hastings United. Billericay are at home to Canvey Island on Boxing Day. In the FA Cup, Billericay went out in the 1st Qualifying Round at home to Bowers & Pitsea and in the FA Trophy in the 3QR on penalties at Chertsey Town. They have advanced in the Isthmian League Cup with home wins vs Basildon United and Cheshunt and in the Essex Senior Cup winning at Concord Rangers. Moses Emmanuel and Ashley Nzala are the leading scorers, both with seven goals.
This should be a great game ahead of the Christmas holidays and perhaps a chance for a break from shopping for Cray Wanderers first ever festive season at Flamingo Park. Admission £12 adults, £6 concessions/U18s-U16s on the gate or online at www.cray-wanderers.com/tickets/ with a printed match programme £3. Golden goal tickets £1, Cray Wanderers Monthly Meat Raffle tickets, £1 or £4 a strip, merchandise, hot food/drinks and bars. We hope all supporters on Saturday enjoy the afternoon and a very Merry Christmas.
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THE PRE-MATCH THOUGHTS/PROGRAMME NOTES OF NEIL SMITH
Cray Wanderers are on a run of three straight 1-0 wins and the big games keep coming this afternoon as the Wands follow up a win at Dover Athletic last Saturday with the visit of second placed Billericay Town. Here Neil Smith looks back to the game at Dover and the recent form and also a Christmas message for supporters.
Hello Neil. Congratulations to yourself and the team on Saturday for the win at Dover Athletic which made it three 1-0 wins in a row following the wins against Bowers & Pitsea and Chichester City. Certainly this was a win many wouldn’t have expected with Dover top of the table and unbeaten in eleven. What are your thoughts on the win and performance?
It was a brilliant result and I don’t think many people gave us a chance going down there.
The boys believed after the preparation on the Thursday before the game, we knew it was going to be a tough match. Jake Leberl has got them going again down at Dover but I thought especially with two new guys in Frankie-Jay Moralee and George Penn literally coming in on Saturday afternoon meeting the boys for the first time that they acquitted themselves really well. I was really pleased with the result.
The defence was superb again, three clean sheets in a row, thirteen now for Shaun Rowley by mid December and although we remain 16th strangely we are only five points off 5th placed Dartford. We have a tough challenge again today though, don’t we against Billericay Town in 2nd place!
That’s right, it is a really crazy league at the moment. A couple of wins takes you right up the table as we have shown but a couple of defeats can take you the other way. It is a really congested and close division with not a lot in it to be honest. Again, going to a place like Dover where we were not expected to win so to pick up three points was massive.
Going into the game against Billericay Town today we know it is going to be another tough match. They’ve got a fantastic squad, you’ve only got to look at their bench and see who isn’t playing to see how good that squad is so it will be a very tough game but hopefully we can pull off another shock.
On Saturday we took the lead early in the second half through Nyren Clunis and apart from one effort which hit the crossbar we kept Shaun Rowley well protected. Also as you mentioned, Frankie-Jay and George were far from overawed by the occasion.
No, they weren’t. Shaun was outstanding and made one fine save first half when he tipped one over and they hit the woodwork but it showed how well he played when they started to bring on the big guns near the end and they kept putting the ball in the box from free kicks, corners and crosses and he was coming out and taking them and really commanded that six yard box. That took a lot of the pressure off the defenders and you don’t always realise how something as simple as that is important for the team.
I could have gone through the whole team on the day, even Kenny Coker has come on late on to do a defensive role. We also hit the post through Josh Williams and just missed Nathan Jeche who was outstanding again. I would take a win however we get it especially with the situation we were in a few weeks ago. We are not out of it yet, we still have to keep on winning or at least keep getting results and keeping the run going.
I know that myself and the supporters enjoyed the day and I hope the players had a great trip home.
Absolutely, the supporters were amazing and what a fantastic gesture from Gary Hillman to lay on a free coach to Dover for the fans. As players and management you don’t realise how important those supporters are until they are there and getting behind you. To have that win the first thing the players wanted to do after the final whistle was to take some time out to come over to the fans to say thank you. It has been highlighted how great the support has been, you are our twelfth man especially when we have gone through sticky patches. So it has been great to give you something to cheer from the trip back from Dover with a smile on your face. In the bar afterwards you could see that togetherness between players and fans and that’s where you build a club from.
Finally Neil from myself and at Cray Wanderers we wish you, Tosh, Ugo, Alfie, Paddy, Ally and Robert and all the players a very Merry Christmas and to families and friends.
Thank you and from my staff and most of all myself I wish our supporters a Happy Christmas, thank you for that support this year and long may it continue. The club is growing, the support base is growing and hopefully we can grow together and hopefully strive for success.
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DIRECTIONS FOR NEWCOMERS 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.
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. For midweek games there are five trains an hour heading to New Eltham. For returns there are trains back to London at 07 & 37 mins past the hour with the last train at 00:07.
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.
