Cray Wanderers vs Dartford – FA Trophy 3rd Round, Saturday 18th December, 3pm – Match Preview
BROMLEY, GREATER LONDON, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 11: the defence tries to block Cray Wanderers’s Chris Dickson as he lines up a shot during the The Pitching In Isthmian Premier League match between Cray Wanderers and Bishop’s Stortford at Hayes Lane on December 11, 2021 in Bromley, Greater London, England . (Photo: © Jon Hilliger / HilligerPix)
Cray Wanderers pre-Christmas fixture sees a first for the club as the Wands play their first ever FA Trophy 3rd Round tie on Saturday with the visit of National South highflyers Dartford. Kick off at Hayes Lane is 3pm. As the previous rounds the tie will go to penalties if level after 90 minutes.
Both sides advanced to the 3rd Round following the drama of penalty shoot-outs with Cray upsetting the odds and formbook in beating Ebbsfleet United 5-3 on penalties after a 2-2 draw. Dartford also won at Bath City, 5-3 on penalties after a 0-0 draw in the 2nd Round.
Despite being in 20th place in the Isthmian Premier League table, Danny Kedwell’s side have been playing well over the last couple of months and were unfortunate not to take at least a point from last Saturday’s 0-1 defeat to Bishop’s Stortford. Cray dominated the second half and came close to scoring near the end especially through Jamie Yila and Chris Dickson and defensively have looked resolute and assured with Dean Beckwith and Ethan Kaiser forming a decent centre-back partnership in the making. Ex-Dartford keeper Bailey Vose looked very composed in goal and his handling looked very assured. Once again Freddy Barton was outstanding at the back and going forward and there were a number of positives despite the defeat. For the cup tie the Wands will be without Cameron Brodie in midfield as not eligible to play against his parent club while Sam Skeffington’s loan spell has come to an end.
BROMLEY, GREATER LONDON, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 11: XXX during the The Pitching In Isthmian Premier League match between Cray Wanderers and Bishop’s Stortford at Hayes Lane on December 11, 2021 in Bromley, Greater London, England . (Photo: © Jon Hilliger / HilligerPix)
This will be the fourth home tie of the competition for Cray and have advanced beating Kings Langley (4-1), Bedfont Sports (2-1) and Ebbsfleet United to reach the last 64 of the competition for the first time and set up a first ever meeting in the FA Trophy with Dartford.
BROMLEY, GREATER LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 31: Cray Wanderers’s Dean Beckwith scores his team’s second goal to make the score 2-1 during the The Buildbase FA Trophy match between Cray Wanderers and Kings Langley at Hayes Lane on October 31, 2021 in Bromley, Greater London, England . (Photo: © Jon Hilliger / HilligerPix)
BROMLEY, GREATER LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 13: Cray Wanderers’s Daniel Uchechi gets his head on the ball during the The Buildbase FA Trophy match between Cray Wanderers and Bedfont Sports at Hayes Lane on November 13, 2021 in Bromley, Greater London, England . (Photo: © Jon Hilliger / HilligerPix)
Steve King’s Dartford side will provide stern opposition and currently lie 2nd in the National South and level on 31 points with leaders Oxford City. The Darts made a terrific start to the season and were unbeaten in their first nine league matches, winning seven and drawing two up mid October. Since then, Dartford went four league games without a win but then beat Hemel Hempstead and Billericay in successive league games but last Saturday went down 0-4 at Maidstone United. In the FA Cup, Dartford defeated Hythe Town and Maidstone United before being upset by Isthmian North AFC Sudbury in the 4QR.
Away form has been good and won at St Albans City (3-1), Dulwich Hamlet (2-0), Bath City (3-1), Welling United (6-0) and Hemel Hempstead Town (3-2). They drew with Chelmsford City (0-0) and lost at Dorking Wanderers (0-1), Concord Rangers (0-1) and Maidstone United (0-4). They are unbeaten at home in the league and beat Slough Town (3-0), Eastbourne Borough (3-1), Hungerford Town (1-0) and Billericay Town (1-0) and drew with Tonbridge Angels, Chippenham Town and Oxford City. Adebayo Azeez is the leading scorer so far this season with 10 goals.
After some high profile cup games against Dartford in the 1960’s there weren’t any meetings between the sides until three seasons of league games in the Kent League in the mid 1990’s. Then after a Kent Senior Cup tie in December 2005, there was one season in the Isthmian Division One in 2006-07 where Cray won 4-0 at Hayes Lane and one season in the Isthmian Premier in 2009-10. The sides did meet in the FA Cup 3rd Qualifying Round on 15th October 2011 with Dartford winning 2-1. The teams played in successive seasons at Hayes Lane in the Kent Senior Cup with Dartford winning 2-1 in 2016-17, Bailey Vose played in goal for Dartford that night but the following season Cray won 4-2 with a Ralique Lawrence hat-trick and a Michael Power penalty.
Cray Wanderers Danny Haynes in action against Dartford in the Kent Senior Cup in the 2016-17 season.
Relations between Cray and Dartford have been positive. When Dartford left the Southern League in the 1992-93 season and re-formed in the Kent League the following season, both clubs shared the Wands old Oxford Road ground in Sidcup allowing the fledgling Dartford club to find its feet. Years later in August 2009 on a Friday night, Cray Wanderers played a home league game at Dartford’s Princes Park ground vs Billericay Town when Hayes Lane wasn’t available.
With all the uncertainty in the news for the second Christmas in a row this could be a chance to get some light relief and see a cracking cup tie but remember to stay safe and be responsible to others. Admission £10.00 adults, £5.00 concessions/U16s and available at www.cray-wanderers.com/tickets/ or pay on the gate, cash payments only accepted.
