RYMAN LEAGUE DIVISION ONE SOUTH—WEDNESDAY 31 OCTOBER 2007

MATCH REPORTER: JERRY DOWLEN

Cray were narrowly beaten in an exciting clash with top-of-the-table Tooting, but the game was spoilt by a bad injury to their skipper Jamie Kempster who was taken to hospital with a deep gash to his leg just before half time.

That was the third of three long hold-ups for injuries that slowed down a frenetic first half in which Tooting had raced into a 3-1 lead after George Fenwick had shot Cray in front in the 3rd minute.

Fenwick took Danny Chapman's upfield pass and finished well after forcing his way through from the left.

The visitors' pressure brought an equaliser when former Cray defender Joe Vines headed in unchallenged from an inswinging corner-kick on 24 minutes.

Tooting showed their credentials as League leaders with some pacy pass-and-move football that twice caught Cray fatally short of defensive cover from sudden breakaways. The ball travelled at lightning speed from Tooting's goalmouth to Cray's, with Matt York and Dean Hamlin in for the kill on 26 and 36 minutes.

Cray might have narrowed the gap after Kempster's injury but Tooting 'keeper Dave King stuck out a leg to block Ross Lover's shot as the first half overran by 14 minutes.

Regrouping in the second half, with David Hall replacing the injured Julian Curnow, Cray made a much more even game of it and netted a good goal on 66 minutes. Jamie Wood set up Michael Power for a shot that King couldn't hold, and Fenwick tucked away the rebound.

A late sending-off for Wood added some insult to injury for the Wands who could not find the net again as Tooting held out to avenge their FA Cup defeat by Cray at the start of September.

Cray Wanderers - Knight, Day, Luckett, Chapman, Matthews (Sterling 60), Royston, Lover, Kempster (J Wood 38), Fenwick, Power, Curnow (Hall 46). Subs not used - Baker, L Wood.

Supporters MOM - George Fenwick

FOREVER AMBER HOME PAGE