The Cray Wins - FA Cup Odyssey Part 3

Crikey. The early rounds of the FA Cup creep up on you quickly. Yesterday was Preliminary Round day. The Essex Senior league teams in general had had a mare in the previous round so my choice was pretty limited locally. Without a car my options further afield were dictated by public transport. I don't have any specific idea where Cray is or indeed where the Crays are but I do know that Cray Wanderers are long standing tenants of Bromley; whose ground I've wanted to visit for a while. Cray were at home to Molesey who are currently tearing up the Combined Counties Premier division and had scored 11 in the last round. A glance at the Isthmian Division 1 North table told me that Cray were propping it up. Higher division strugglers against free scoring lower division form side. This had cup magic written all over it!

This & they are cool. (no pisstake)

I've seen Bromley's Hayes Lane ground described as one of London's must do non-league grounds. It's great, loads of terraces and barriers; a blast from the past. Bromley doesn't really feel like London though. It feels like a place with a town centre and really its existence as a London borough feels like some sort of administrative oversight. Anyway, HG Wells & Siouxsie Sioux are what Bromley brings to my mind; the reality is a little more quotidian if opulent. London it is though. A little far south of the river for my comfort but the journey is an easy one now that Blackfriars is open again. I'm even less a trainspotter than a groundhopper but catching a train from Blackfriars bridge should be on a to do list for tourists in London.

Unfortunately, while the tie may have had cup magic written all over it the shock I had expected didn't materialise. The opening exchanges were pretty even and you could see the attacking threat that Molesey undoubtedly possess. However, they imploded somewhat when they went behind slightly against the run of play. From then on the referee was in the spotlight. Molesey felt with some justification that they were being pulled up on everything while Cray were getting away with a bunch of stuff. Ironically the dismissal of the Molesey left back for 2 yellows wasn't really disputed (much) but everything else was. The Molesey fans felt hard done by while the Cray massive enjoyed winding them up. For a 15 minute spell the team went to pieces and ended up two down by the time the half time whistle was blown. For my part I didn't think that the ref had a bad game but Cray were the cannier side when it came to the rough stuff.

The match wasn't played at the highest pace...

So down to 10 and 2 down. No cup magic here. Except, nearly, so nearly. A couple of minutes into the second half Molesey had a penalty as their centre back was manhandled from a corner. It was a weak penalty and the Cray keeper made easy work of it. He boasted afterwards to a crowd member that the penalty taker had been watched and his kick predicted. Preparation is key at all levels. Within minutes the keeper had almost given Molesey another way back into the game but he easily dealt with the one on one his error had created. 

Penalty about to be smothered

Molesey plugged away but with 7 minutes left they fell 3 behind. They really went for it after that and scored a great little goal to set up a surprisingly tense finish as they looked for the 2 goals they needed for the draw. It wasn't to be and the real shame was that what was an engaging tussle was overshadowed by the moaning and whinging by both sides. I would wager though that the Molesey players will probably have more to celebrate come the season's end.

Politely querying the ref's decision

Only in non-league pt 1: The voluble away supporter loudly berating the ref's impartiality while pushing a buggy up and down the touchline.

Only in non-league pt 2 The Cray supporters amusingly referring to one of their players as Cesc due to his resemblance to Sr Fabregas. Except that Cesc was his name.