Neil Smith takes his Cray Wanderers side to the Medway Towns this weekend as the Wands travel to play Chatham Town in a game vital to both sides. 

Whilst the Chats are still in Play Off contention just, Smith and his side travel down the M20 knowing that a repeat of last season’s 5-1 triumph at the Bauvill could just about secure the Wands place for another season in the Premier division. 

After a good run either side of Christmas, Smith has now seen his side not win in their last three.

“We got a great result at Hastings but then away to Whitehawk, we didn’t come away with anything on a boggy pitch; next we were away to Wingate & Finchley and on wet pitch came we didn’t do ourselves justice there and then against a Bognor side who were scrapping, fighting for their lives to stay up.”

“Even though on paper everyone was expecting us to win, they gave us a much tougher game than everyone expected. The boys put in a good shift and it was disappointing when we went 1-0 down against the run of play; we had a goal disallowed, a penalty appeal turned down, we hit the post, had another cleared off the line, and then to get the goal when we did – and I think we deserved it – for the players as they didn’t give up right until the final whistle.”

“From being a goal down and keeping going until the ninety-third minute is full credit to the boys!” 

Tuesday’s point was Cray’s first point in three games, but you have to counter that fact with the one that they lost just once in the ten games before that defeat at Whitehawk, and it’s that run that means that Cray travel to Chatham on Saturday twelfth in the table and one place above their hosts.

“We have a points target that we put down before the season started that we wanted to hit first and then you see where you are,” Smith explained,

“And we are probably only a couple of points off that figure already. We knew it would be a tough season this year – the toughest since I first walked in the door with circumstances that are going on, but if we can get the points, we will have achieved our goal to stay up this season; new pitch, new ground, new supporters coming in and we’ve given them a rollercoaster of a ride which we knew it would be – with all the competition in the League at the moment, we know where we are and can realistically achieve.” 

“I think the boys so far this season have given me everything – we have a very small squad – we have twelve players on our books who are ours, there’s two on loan and we’ve two trialists.”

“It’s very, very difficult to keep squeezing that little bit more out of the same players week in, week out, but they are giving me everything.” 

“We will take good support to Chatham – we’ll go looking to get something after the home game saw our biggest defeat of the season (Chatham won 4-1 back in mid-October), but even that game was closer than it sounds until two set plays killed us meaning it was tough to get back.”

“We have already won there in the Kent Cup this season and won 5-1 there last year – I know Hakey (Chats boss Kevin Hake) and he will want to win every home game if he can, so it should be a good game. They play some good football and so are we at the moment…” 

Off the pitch, Cray CEO Sam Wright has announced that he will be leaving Flamengo Park at the end of March – Smith told us, “Sam’s been brilliant since I walked through the door – I knew him when the club was at Bromley and I was manager there – but he has been amazing since I joined Cray.”

“He is someone who I phone up and we’ve been talking every day helping out asking what he can do. I won’t just be “losing” a CEO, I’ll be losing a mate!”

“No doubt he’ll still be supporting Cray as I think it’s in his blood, but no longer being there after being so integral on moving into Flamengo Park, to lose someone like Sam who has been a massive part of Cray’s history will be a big loss!”

Picture supplied by Jon Hilliger.