Ryman Premier
Grays Ath 0 v 2 Margate
GRAYS Athetic have still to register a point in the league as they lost 2-0 to Margate at Mill Field on Wednesday night.
The game was very much like their first game on Saturday, where they also lost 2-0.
Grays played fairly well but never looked like scoring and when the opposition moved through the gears, there was very little response.
In the end it was two goals from outside the box that helped Margate make it back-to-back wins to start the season.
Charlie Allen’s blockbuster put Margate ahead and although Grays had their moments, they never truly tested Nikki Bull in the away goal.
And they were made to pay just after the midway point of the second half when Sam Rents curled in a low free-kick to secure the points.
Grays had the first chance on four minutes when Bull scuffed his kick and the ball came back for Joe Benjamin to shoot, but Bull redeemed himself with a decent block.
Gate were next to threaten as Allen had a shot blocked, before Ryan Moss blasted over from 20 yards.
Chances were at a premium until the 15th minute when Allen brilliantly blasted the visitors ahead.
The ball may have dropped nicely for him 25 yards out but the technique and precision of the volley was superb.
Both sides were trying to play football the right way but by and large cancelled each other out, although it was always Margate who looked more dangerous, not least when Rents forced Gough into a good low save on 39 minutes.
Grays went closer than they had before in the first minute of the second period when Freddie Lapado got clear on the right and eventually found support from Joao Carlos, but his shot went just wide.
Grays were much more of a threat after the break and a good move ended with Lapado showing good skill in the box but his shot was weak and blocked by Grays returning legend, Jamie Stuart.
Benjamin shot wide when he might have done better, but on 68 minutes – slightly against the run of play in the second period – it was 2-0.
Sub Zac Attwood was fouled on the edge of the box and Rents stepped up to curl the free-kick around the wall and into the bottom corner past a static Gough.
Moss was denied by a brilliant challenge from Aaron Best-Riley after Allen had played him in when Gate had three on one at the back, before the former Kingstonian striker headed wide from a delicious Rents corner.
Grays looked for a way back into the game but Stuart in particular shone as Margate kept a second clean sheet in a row.
