Isthmian Division North
Redbridge 1 v 2 Grays Athletic
GRAYS Athletic made it a nine Isthmian North wins in a row with a hard-fought away victory against a skillful and well-drilled Redbridge side on Saturday (19 April).
But they left it oh so late to seal the win, when most of the travelling fans would probably have settled for a point. This Grays side is though made of stern stuff and, as good sides do, found a way to win.
It was a real game of two halves. Redbridge were much the better side in the first half, passing the ball crisply on their excellent 3G pitch but Blues turned it round after the break and eventually pushed their hosts to breaking point. With another game on Monday afternoon, manager Darren Manning shuffled his pack, resting a few players and giving others the chance to shine.
Kenedi Dariri created the first chance of the game, with one of his trademark charges forward. He fed Harry Hope whose chip over the defence found Shane Temple who shot straight at home keeper, Max Spence. Hope himself then had the next chance, from a Matas Skarna cross but leaning back, his shot cleared the crossbar.
On the quarter hour mark, there was controversy when Hope’s ball sent Aron Gordon clear through on goal and he was downed by Spence, as he went for the ball. Referee Mr Maher applied the “double jeopardy” rule awarding the penalty but only showing Spence a yellow card, when he could very easily have seen red.
And to make things worse for Blues, Spence then pulled off a fine save to deny Elliott Sartorius’s spot kick.
Redbridge took strength from this and started to dominate possession, with ex-Blue Karl Kayembe and Solomon Ogunwojomu controlling things in midfield. There was danger when Tendai Quamina found himself in the clear – he rounded Danny Sambridge in the Grays goal, but Dariri was on hand to snuff out the chance. But Redbridge were soon in the lead thanks to another former Grays man, Nidal Berri who took advantage of some slack defending to create space for himself and pick his spot for a 1-0 lead.
Quamina then had a chance to double the lead but his shot was wild. Redbridge were playing some nice football. Napa shot straight at Sambridge and Jack Chawner was only stopped by a fine block tackle from Dariri.
