With just three league games left in the 2025-26 season Cray Wanderers play the first of back to back home matches on Saturday as Lewes are the visitors to Flamingo Park. Kick off 3pm.
Both teams will come into the game on the back of Easter Monday wins and although Cray and Lewes are outsiders for the playoffs/relegation there will still be plenty at stake.
The Wands lie seventh in the Isthmian Premier League table on sixty four points and are six behind fifth placed Chatham Town and seven behind Brentwood Town in fourth. Cray are four points behind Dartford in sixth and level on points with Burgess Hill Town in eighth with the Wands having a better goal difference.
Aveley and Billericay Town look certain to occupy two of the four playoff places at the end of the season with Brentwood away to Carshalton Athletic who need the points to steer clear of relegation while Chatham are at home to Wingate & Finchley. Dartford visit relegated Canvey Island while Burgess Hill are at home to Cheshunt.
Cray bounced back from the bitter disappointment of the last gasp defeat in the last home match with Billericay Town last Saturday by producing a controlled performance to win 2-1 at Cray Valley on Easter Monday. Frankie Raymond set the early tone with a crashing strike before the hosts levelled before half time.
Cray though taking advantage of a quadruple substitution with twenty minutes to go produced instant dividends when Shae Hutchinson, formerly of Lewes struck a great finish to win the game in the seventy fourth minute. This made it just two defeats in twenty away matches this season.
The Wands with the exception of Tom Bonner who misses the remaining matches should be at full strength and will be looking to at least finish the season with three wins to finish on seventy three points and cap a more than satisfactory campaign.
Lewes will come into the game in sixteenth place on forty five points. The Rooks are seven clear of Welling United and Hashtag United who occupy the fourth from bottom position with Cray Valley in twentiefth place a point behind. Lewes are five points clear of Carshalton Athletic in seventeenth place. So in theory forth five points should be a position of safety especially as Hashtag host Cray Valley on Saturday while Welling who have a game in hand against Potters Bar Town next Tuesday host Dulwich Hamlet but Lewes have an inferior goal difference to the teams below them.
Lewes also bounced back from a last gasp defeat at Potters Bar on Good Friday by beating Whitehawk 3-0 in an East Sussex derby at the Dripping Pan. An early goal from top scorer Devonte West was followed by second half strikes from Alfie Allen and Bobby Unwin.
The Rooks much like last season started the season well with four wins in the opening five league games and could have been five from six but for Cray’s comeback from 0-2 down to draw at Lewes on 6th September. Lewes led 2-0 at half time through goals from Arezki Hamouchene and Finlay Chadwick but the Wands fought back against what as a ten man Lewes side for the last half hour with goals from Ashley Nzala and Quade Taylor in added time.
Craig Nelson who returned to Lewes as manager in October from former Wand Bradley Pritchard saw his side around the top ten for the early stages of the campaign but it was a run of no wins in eight during February-March which pushed Lewes to the lower reaches of the table. Lewes have lost the last four away from home but are unbeaten in three at home.
Away from home Lewes have won at Carshalton Athletic (2-1), Welling United (1-0), Dulwich Hamlet (4-1) and Canvey Island (1-0). They drew at Cray Valley (1-1), Hashtag United (3-3) and Cheshunt (0-0) but their remaining games ended in defeat at St Albans City (0-3), Chichester City (0-3), Aveley (0-3), Folkestone Invicta (0-6), Wingate & Finchley (0-2), Burgess Hill Town (1-2), Ramsgate (0-3), Billericay Town (0-3), Whitehawk (1-3), Brentwood Town (1-2), Dartford (1-4) and Potters Bar Town (1-2). Devonte West is the leading scoring with ten goals.
The Wands home record in league games against Lewes is not great with the only win coming in the Covid hit 2019-20 season with Cray winning 2-1 at Hayes Lane in January 2020 with goals from Karl Dent and Jay Leader. The first ever meeting at Flamingo Park last season on 24th August 2024 saw Lewes win 3-1 with goals from Eddie Alsopp, and former Wands Danny Bassett and Marcus Sablier with Anthony Cook scoring for Cray.
Both teams are more than capable of putting on a show and it should be a great game to watch between traditionally two good footballing sides.
Admission £15 adults, £10 concessions, £5 U18-17s on the gate or online at www.cray-wanderers.com/tickets/. Printed Match programme £3 (on the turnstile), merchandise, golden goal tickets (£1), hot and cold food including DoughJoes Pizza and drinks, bars – Large outdoor screen.
Pics: Steve Cullum and Natalie Stribbling