The curtain falls down on another season for Cray Wanderers as the Wands head to Burgess Hill Town for a meeting between 7^th and 8^th in the Isthmian Premier League table and two sides that can look back on a satisfactory season. 

Kick off 3pm.

The Wands will be looking to finish the season on a high and aim for the seventy points mark for only the second time in the Isthmian Premier league era.  It will be a tough test though against a Burgess Hill side who have whatever happens on Saturday finished in a highest ever league position and settled nicely after promotion from the Isthmian South-East last season.

Cray will be looking to bounce back from the disappointment of the 2-3 home defeat to Welling United last Saturday and will travel to West Sussex with a fine away record this season having picked up thirty six of the sixty seven points on their travels which currently is three more than the Isthmian Premier Playoff’s season of 2022-23 and one less than the current best total of thirty seven points away from home in the 2011-12 season.

One thing that cannot be disputed is that Cray Wanderers certainly since the turn of the year have begun games home and away in spritely fashion and last Saturday, Cray made it a goal in the first five minutes in four of the last five matches and the other match was an eleventh minute strike. Ola Ogunwamide has hit the ground running since joining Cray from Horsham in February and netted his fourth goal for the Wands in the second minute to open the scoring against Welling.  

Another player in good form is Max Fiddes who after joining the Wands initially on a month loan from Dover at the end of January and then extended until the end of the season made it two nil with his fifth goal for Cray.  Max had a spell with Burgess Hill Town during December/January where he scored four goals and also after a stint at Canvey Island earlier in the season and has sixteen goals to his name.

Also having a great season is Alex Hernandez who still is in running for the League golden boot with twenty goals, level with Brentwood Town’s Daniel Ogunleye who has at least one more match to play with Brentwood in the playoffs and one behind Folkestone Invicta’s Jake Hutchinson. 

One player Wands supporters will be saying farewell too is skipper Tom Bonner who has announced his retirement from the game after a long career and sterling service to many clubs and can certainly look back at time at his swansong club with pride.

Perhaps one of the few regrets of the season for Cray perhaps has been the loss of home points when in front of matches and one such match was the reverse fixture on 22^nd November when the match finished in a 3-3 draw with Cray two nil up at the break and three two up going into added time.  Goals from Chris Dickson and Lateef Adaja were cancelled out by goals for the Hillians by Luther Williams and Martyn Box.  Kareem Isiaka made it three two in the seventy first minute but Burgess Hill were awarded a penalty deep into added time which was converted by Glen Rea.

Last Saturday Burgess Hill were beaten 0-2 at Dulwich Hamlet with ex-Wands David Smith and Nyren Clunis netting for Hamlet but not enough damage was done to prevent an eighth placed finish for Gary Mansell’s side.

Due to a new 3G pitch being laid their first home league match didn’t take place until 20^th September and at home Burgess Hill have beaten Hashtag United (2-0), Cray Valley (1-0), Potters Bar Town (2-1), Ramsgate (4-3), Lewes (2-1), Dartford (2-1), Wingate & Finchley (3-2), Welling United (2-1) and Brentwood Town (3-2). They drew with Whitehawk (2-2) and Dulwich Hamlet (1-1) with their other games ending in defeat against Folkestone Invicta (2-3), Carshalton Athletic (2-4), Canvey Island (0-2), Aveley (2-5), Billericay Town (1-2), St Albans City (0-1), Chatham Town (0-3) and Cheshunt (1-3). Top scorer is ex Gillingham and Lewes midfielder Chris Whelpdale with fourteen goals.

The Wands first ever Isthmian League game was at Burgess Hill Town on 14^th August, 2004 in what was coincidentally Burgess Hill’s first game at that level in Division One with Cray winning 2-1 with goals from Jamie Kempster and Leigh Bremner.  The teams met for five seasons at Step 4 with the last visit on 14^th October 2008 with the home side winning 2-1 with Tommy Whitnell scoring for Cray.

With no pressure on the match and in what is expected to be a very warm day this should be a great way to part the ways for a couple of months before pre-season starts again with the giant enticement of the World Cup Finals in between as two sides that can look back on the season with pride head off a well earned rest.

Pictures supplied by Natalie Stribbling and Steve Cullum.