A LATE PENALTY by former Grays Ath star Ben Watson’s late penalty sealed another defeat for Thurrock at Eastbourne Borough. Before that, Borough Skipper Ollie Rowe opened the scoring when he headed home Matt Crabb’s 19th minute corner.
This is a great achievement as the team struggled at the beginning of the season, gaining only one point from the first two games. The team then put in some hard work in training and went on a super run winning 13 out of the next 14 games to comfortably win the title, with two games still to play.
Rocks found themselves on the backfoot in the early stages and Mike Ramkin, returning to the side after several months on the sidelines because of a knee injury that required an operation, was a shade lucky to escape a caution for a succession of fouls as he chased and hounded the Stones midfielders with a huge appetite for work.
The Millers took an early lead in the 13th minute when Daniel Francis was able to use his strength to spin Harrow’s Rickelle Christian, after the defender had got too tight, and the Aveley No11 slotted home calmly with his left foot past the despairing dive of Borough keeper, Jack Bonham.
After the game, Captain Gary Henty commented "I thought we were unlucky in the 2nd half., We put Sudbury under a lot of pressure in the second period and we had 2 good efforts cleared off the line. Spirit is good within the squad and we look forward to redeeming ourselves next week at Heybridge Swifts".
Vital win for Grays Ath. Great win for the Millermen as they dig deep to get the three points. Fortress Chadfields breached just at the wrong time as an impressive Sudbury gain vital points.
A FIFTH win in a row saw Grays Ath rise to fourth in the league as their battle for promotion continued with a 2-0 win against Heybridge Swifts at Rookery Hill.
Kye Ruel became another injury worry as he limped off close to the end of a game that was becoming increasingly fractious, with his replacement Harry Cook and full back Ryan Sammons being cautioned alongside three Bury players.
AVELEY bosses have told their new manager, Justin Gardner, that they did not have too high expectations this season and it is just as well as they crashed to two defeats in 48 hours.
Cole signed for Grays Athletic in 2004 from West Ham United. He played in the team that won the Conference South and the FA Trophy in the same year.
He went on to play for Southend, Stevenage and Oxford. However, in November he started feeling short of breath in training and matches, and was unable to run to full effect.
On 30 Tilbury were denied a clear penalty when a cross into the box was handled but the referee waved away any protests. The disappointment lifted Tilbury and 4 minutes later Gary Henty ran towards goal only to be fouled just outside the box. Alex Read perfectly executed free kick found the top corner.
There was little tempo at all to the game but it was becoming increasingly fractious as both sets of players seemed frustrated by the lack of quality and Wilson-Denis was cautioned for an off the ball challenge on Newby. Tooting sub Connor French tried to make an impact, thrashing two shots wide but in truth in both instances he ought to have done better.Tooting then won a succession of corners and Wray was called into action for the first time, tipping a cross away and then saving at his near post from Wilson-Dennis.
Thurrock needing to add another goal to try and secure the game and they extended their lead in the 59th minute when Lee Boylan converted a penalty kick which was awarded when Mark Jermyn was judged to have pushed Boylan when challenging for a cross from Teddy Nesbitt.
It took eighteen home games but it was worth the wait as at long last, Fleet win at home. Up to 14th for Rocks as they continue to climb up the league.
In the 33rd minute, Joao Carlos drove through to the edge of the area and was fouled. Lee Flynn drove the free kick forward and it was deflected in for the equaliser. Grays now looked far more assertive and shots by Jake Hall and Nathan Gordon again created further pressure. Things were not so certain at the back and there were far too many "Garryowens" for comfort.
