Cray Wanderers play their pre-Christmas home fixture today as Haringey Borough are the visitors to Hayes Lane. Kick off is at 3pm.
Both sides will be looking for a morale boosting win with Cray Wanderers in 18th place on eighteen points after 16 games while Haringey Borough are currently bottom on eight points from 18 games played before this weekend’s possibly rain affected fixtures.
Cray are unbeaten in their last four games but have had to sit out the last couple of matches at Folkestone Invicta and Bognor Regis Town due to postponements. The Wands last match was a 2-2 draw at home to Whitehawk on 29th November with Anthony Cook and Gary Lockyer the goalscorers. Lockyer has been in a rich vein of form since coming back to the club in September and has scored eight goals in league and cups including seven in his last nine games.
Cray have been playing well despite the lowly league position and have become much harder to beat but just need to gather some points ahead of the busy Christmas/New Year run of fixtures especially as five of the next six matches are at home and have just started to be pulled back towards the relegation places. Also the two recent games being called off may help any injured players more time to gain fitness.
Haringey Borough will go into the game on the back of a win at home to Potters Bar Town in the Velocity League Cup on Tuesday night. The match finished 1-1 with Georgios Aresti scoring for Borough who advanced, winning 6-5 on penalties. Their last league game was a 0-3 home defeat to Chatham Town on 2nd December.
Tom Loizou’s side in the league away from home has so far won at Cheshunt (2-0) and drawn at Margate (1-1) and Folkestone Invicta (1-1) and were beaten at Canvey Island (2-3), Carshalton Athletic (0-1), Hastings United (1-2), Whitehawk (1-2), Bognor Regis Town (0-3) and Lewes (1-4). At home Haringey drew with Enfield Town, Dulwich Hamlet and Kingstonian and were beaten by Wingate & Finchley, Horsham, Hornchurch, Potters Bar Town, Concord Rangers and Chatham Town.
In the FA Cup, Haringey Borough advanced to the 3rd Qualifying Round after wins against Dulwich Hamlet and Tonbridge Angels but were beaten narrowly at Dover Athletic. In the FA Trophy, Haringey won at Folkestone Invicta but were beaten at home by Redbridge in the 1st Qualifying Round. Matthew Young is the leading scorer with 12 in all competitions.
Last season Haringey finished comfortably clear of relegation in 15th place in the Isthmian Premier with 51 points. Coincidentally, Cray played Haringey Borough at Hayes Lane exactly a year ago on a very foggy and ultimately snowy Sunday afternoon with Cray winning 5-1 in a game much closer than the scoreline suggests. The Wands scorers were Dan Bassett, Jalen Jones, Anthony Cook (2) and Omari Hibbert with Michael O’Donoghue who recently joined Hornchurch scoring for Borough.
The sides met on a much more warmer afternoon on the final day of the league season on 22nd April and finished 2-2 with Cray earning the point needed to clinch a playoff place with Bassett and Tom Derry scoring for Cray and Matthew Young and Jorge Djassi-Sambu for Borough.
With the stakes high for both teams this is one of the key games of the weekend but promises to be an entertaining afternoon’s football .
Admission £12/£6, on the gate (cash only) or online at www.cray-wanderers.com/tickets/ and £2 matchday programme.
Pictures supplied by Ozay Booth.