Choose your own adventure.
Adventure 1: This was a tough game. Cray have been unbeaten in the league since early September. They were 2-0 up with the advantage of the hill in the second half. They are a good side sitting second in the league. We have lost three league games on the bounce, and to be in it until the 88th minute is a positive step.
5-3 doesn’t reflect the value that each team brought today, and if we continue to perform like that we will pick up points on the road.
We can, as a whole, be proud of that. We scored goals, we defended with gusto, and we didn’t have our first choice team on the pitch. The difference between agony and ecstasy is one big save or one crucial block. Let’s not over analyse here.
Adventure 2: This was 3 points dropped. We deserved something against Billericay and Hashtag, and we have good squad depth. No matter who you’re playing, if you’re 3-2 up in the 88th minute you should win. Even despite the three goals we scored today, there were more chances that we should have scored, and the goals we conceded were avoidable.
We might look back on this as 3 points left wanting.
The point here is that it’s not for me, or anyone, to tell you have to feel. This was an open game of football between two quality teams that could have gone either way, in truth. And the beauty of non-league football is that there are times when you feel you have the world at your feet, and there are times when the march becomes a trudge.
But there were some real positives that we can all agree on.
Cain Keller looked a good addition on the right flank, using his pace and athleticism to get the ball forward on a few occasions. Ogo Obi took his tally in the league to 17 goals with his brace at Cray. The first was a header from a matter of inches out after a flick on from a corner. And the second was a trademark finish into the corner from inside the box.
Camilo Restrepo also got off the mark for the Blues, after he nicked the ball round a defender and bore down on goal to finish in a very similar manner to Ogo from inside the box.
It’s now four league defeats on the spin, but there is still plenty of reasons to be hopeful as we enter the Christmas period. We have been unlucky not to pick up points in the Hashtag, Billericay and Cray Valley games, and with Frempah and Cracknell due to return for next Saturday’s visit of Lewes, this festive run could be a way to kick on for the Blues.
Who would want to miss that?
Wingate & Finchley: Grainger; Garrett-Douglas; Byron; Iontton; Webb; Lowe (Kpakpe 78’); Keller (Roberts 86’); Restrepo (Briscoe 86’); Obi; Georgiou (Newton 63’); Drakes-Thomas
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