Blues fall to defeat on the road at Cray Wanderers

It was the 4th time that the Blues had met Cray this season, and whilst none of the previous three meetings had necessarily seen the Blues play at the top of their game, Saturday afternoon’s final meeting was most certainly the least favourable for the North London side.

The result of course is the primary reason for that: 4 goals conceded while being unable to break down the Cray defence in ways that they’ve been able to do to other teams this season. But Saturday also saw the early departure of three players through injury, which will be of great concern to Ahmet Rifat and his team.

Zack Newton was the first to be replaced in the first 10 minutes, limping around the sideline after going down in a tackle early on up front. He was then followed into the medical tent only 20 minutes later when Ryan Lowe was also forced off in an injury. The incident looked fairly innocuous, and it remains to be seen the seriousness of the injuries to both Newton and Lowe.

But by far the most worrying was the injury to Tommy Roberts, who flew head first into the metal railings that run alongside the pitch after a collision with a Cray player. He was treated for a number of minutes by the medical teams from both sides, and eventually left the pitch under his own steam with his head covered in blood, and his wrist held limp. It was a scary incident for Roberts, who was treated in hospital for his injuries, and who will have had nasty memories of a similar incident two years ago, when he crashed into the side hoardings at Summers Lane in a similarly scary fashion.

Despite the anger of some of the travelling fans, the referee decided that the push from the Cray player to send Tommy into the railings at full speed wasn’t worthy of any disciplinary action, and the game continued after a long pause. Thankfully, Tommy looks to be ok.

And it wasn’t the only moment of controversy in a game that was played at a high tempo between two sides, neither of whom had much to play for in the table coming in. Cray’s second goal was a header that the striker appeared to head out of the hands of the goalkeeper, and when the score was 4-1, Ore Bello was pulled to the floor when through one on one. It would have been easier to stay down, but he managed to get up to continue the attack. By that point the keeper had enough time to get out quickly and smother the chance. The referee however waved play on as advantage, and the chance was cleared.

Either way, the result had been long secured by that point due to the cool finishing of the Cray forwards, and the quick pressure from their midfield to shut down the Blues’ attacks. Their first goal was a well hit volley from the edge of the area, their third was an incisive break that led to a calmly finished one on one chance, and the third was another well hit attempt from outside the box that nestled into the corner of the goal.

The Blues did create a few good chances of their own; the Bello one on one chance notwithstanding, Restrepo managed to get in behind down the left on a couple of occasions in the first half, one of which led to the Blues’ only goal, as Jaiden Drakes-Thomas was the recipient of his pull-back, slotting the ball into the bottom right corner and away from the full stretch of the goalkeeper.

The result sees the Blues sit in eleventh in the table with three to play: Bognor (H), Cheshunt (A), and Caney Island (H). We’d love for you to join us over Easter for our remaining home fixtures, and enjoy the last taste of non-league football before the summer break. We’ll see you there!

Wingate & Finchley: Grainger; Keller; Byron; Cracknell; Frempah (Emovon ‘73); Iontton; Bello; Lowe (Roberts ‘30 (Garrett-Douglas ‘72)); Newton (Drakes-Thomas ‘10); Restrepo; Alexandrou

Unused Subs: Watt

Attendance: 539

Photos courtesy of Martin Addison. Match report by Chris Cummings