League action returns to Hayes Lane after a short break for cup tie football as Cray Wanderers and Carshalton Athletic meet for the second time in just under a week.
The two teams played out a thrilling 3-3 draw in the FA Trophy last Sunday and with both teams free scoring and playing good football this could be a game as good as any played in the country.
Both teams lie just outside the playoff places going into the game with Carshalton sixth and Cray seventh and will be looking to maintain their good form. Cray have won their last three league games and have started to hit a rich vein of form. The second half performance on Sunday was possibly their best display of the season and were unlucky not to win the tie. Stellar performances from the likes of Danny Haynes, Brandon Scott, Paul Lorraine, Jey Siva, Sean Roberts helped turn a game that was going the way of Carshalton at half time.
Tony Russell’s side have also benefited with games against Herne Bay and the Cup replay with Carshalton being postponed with a chance to refuel and prepare for what is a key battle for points. The cup replay with Carshalton is now planned for the 26th October and for the time being Cray can concentrate on some big league games coming up against Carshalton, Guernsey and Lewes in the coming week.
Carshalton under player-manager Peter Adeniyi showed what they can do on Sunday and play a similar style of football to Cray. Ricky Korboa with nine league goals added to his glowing reputation with two more in the FA Trophy game and he is joint top scorer alongside Sam Bradford, who didn’t play on Sunday. They are joint top scorers in the league with 30 goals with Greenwich Borough and Cray will have to be on their toes to nullify their threat.
The Robins had been members of the Ryman League going back to 1973 and they spent thirty years there before being moved to the Conference South in 2004 following a re-structuring of the leagues. They spent two seasons there before relegation back to the Ryman League.
The two teams met each other back in the mid-twenties-thirties in the London League Senior Division for eight seasons before meeting again in the Ryman Premier in 2009. The last meeting between the two sides in the league took place at Colston Avenue in January 2014 with Cray winning 2-0 with goals by Jide Maduako and Paul Vines. Both teams though were relegated that season with Cray located in the North Division for the next couple of seasons.
This promises to be another cracking game to add to some pretty stellar matches already played this season and one with a little added spice following the cup game on Sunday