The Wands were unfortunate to come away from their visit to Sudbury defeated after an excellent performance in which every player was a credit to the club. The match was played on a very difficult pitch and Cray had to cope with injuries during the game.

Cray made three changes to the side which won so impressively at Histon with Steve Springett, Dmitri Larin and Max Fitzgerald coming into the side due to suspensions for Danny Lye, Michael Phillips and Marlon Patterson.

The home side began the game in control and dominated possession for the first twenty minutes and Cray were indebted to Darren Behcet who made sharp saves to deny Jack Wilkinson and then from close range from Scott Kemp.

Cray were rocked when Rory Hill had to leave the game after nineteen minutes due to injury and was replaced by Kerry Kedze. Sudbury came close again when Terry Rymer pounced on hesitation at the back and Behcet parried his shot from inside the area.

Then on 22 minutes Cray took the lead against the run of play when Ishmael Welsh found space and he passed to Hussein Isa, whose ball forward was then deflected into the path of Shaun Welford who took advantage of some hesitant defending to burst into the box and calmly slot the ball into the net.

From here Cray had more control of the game and looked stronger as the half went on. Cray were unlucky not to extend their lead when Isa’s free kick from just outside the area was met by an excellent save from Marcus Garnham who tipped his shot over the crossbar.

Cray were dealt a blow just before halftime when Nick Humphrey picked up an injury and was replaced by Ian Daly.

Half Time 0-1

Cray continued to press forward in a very lively second half and were unlucky not to extend their lead on a number of occasions.

First another Isa free kick from a similar position was turned wide by Garnham. Then the home keeper did well to block Kedze’s shot and Welsh’s cross was just missed by the onrushing Welford. Kedze shot over the bar and Isa’s shot was deflected for a corner as the Wands just couldn’t get the second goal their play deserved.

Sudbury substitute, Correy Davidson made a difference when he came on and pulled a shot wide after a good run from midfield.

Then came possibly one of the saves of the season from Garnham when a fine passing move from Cray led to Welsh’s cross being met by the head of Welford whose powerful header was clawed away by the keeper from off the line.

The save turned out to be the turning point of the match as Sudbury picked up their game and levelled the scores on 76 minutes when Kris Newby and Kemp combined to set up Davidson who fired home a first time shot from 20 yards.

Within four minutes Sudbury took the lead when Lawrence Yiga played the ball to Kemp who then found Ben Robinson down the left who fired home an excellent shot.

The Wands continued to try and play their way back into the game but just couldn’t get a break in the box and the home side were able to see out the game.

The team could not be faulted today for their performance and showed a lot of character and dug deep despite setbacks in the game.

Cray: Darren Behcet, Dmitri Larin, Steve Springett, Max Fitzgerald, Nick Humphrey, (Capt.) (Ian Daly, 45+3), CJ Williams, Rory Hill (Kerry Kedze, 19), Hussein Isa (Adrian Stone, 85), Shaun Welford, Cesc Fakinos, Ishmael Welsh:
Subs: Ben Hunt, Gary Beckett

Booked: Welford, Williams

Sudbury: Marcus Garnham, Ben Robinson, Lee Flynn (Correy Davidson, 66), Jack Wilkinson, Ryan Henshaw, Craig Pope, Kris Newby, Sam Clarke, Terry Rymer, Scott Kemp (Jack Guyton, 78), Ollie Berquez (Lawrence Yiga, 74): Subs: Ayrton Coley, Jordan Blackwell

Booked: Rymer, Berquez, Henshaw

Referee: Martin Holmes
Assistants: Ian Pascu, Lee Newton

Att. 223