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CRAY WANDERERS 6 BROMLEY 1 Kent Senior Cup Semi Final Tie—Tuesday 26 February 2008 Report by Pete Goringe.
Wake me up, I must be dreaming! Except that you wouldn’t even in your wildest dreams have conjured up what we witnessed on a wonderful night at Hayes Lane as Cray Wanderers reached the final of the Kent Senior Cup for the first time since 1901.
Before going any further, lets get a few things straight. This was no “Mickey Mouse” game. It was a return to the heyday of the county’s premier cup competition. For both clubs and their supporters this was one of the biggest games of the season. There was no question of weakened sides. Bromley fielded exactly the same 16 that got a good Conference South point at Basingstoke three days earlier. They’ve won this cup for the past two years and their big target was to make it a hat-trick. And the crowd of well over 500 showed how seriously the punters took this most local of local derbies.
Cray 6, Bromley 1; the scoreline tells the story. Apart from a 20-minute period at the beginning of the second-half, the Wands were far superior in every department. Granted, the visitors’ (!) performance fell far short of what might be expected of a side two divisions higher, but that is take nothing away from a superb display that must have had Jenko and Joe purring with delight.
Cray were set up in a 3-5-2 formation, with Adam Cottrell making his full debut as right wing-back and Arron Day moving into the centre alongside Steve Aris and Mark Willy. When the Wands play this formation, they generally look good going forward, and they soon stretched Bromley with neat passing and movement and the occasional judicious use of the long ball over the back line.
Ironically, Bromley carved out the first clear chance when Glen Knight had to come off his line to make a blocking save from the dangerous Jason Henry. On 15 minutes, Cray went close when Michael Power’s ball across the face of goal eluded everyone.
Moments later the Wands did take the lead. Power found himself in space in the box and shot low past ‘keeper Gareth Williams, one of two Bromley players with that name. A raised linesman’s flag was a worry, but the referee quickly overruled his assistant and confirmed the goal, presumably because the ball that Shaggy latched onto had been played by a Bromley defender. Quite what he was intending is a mystery.
A feature of the first-half was that three strong penalty claims were turned down by Mr Mason. Both sides had a good shout for handball and Bromley also felt a fierce challenge by Willy merited a spot-kick. It was Cray, though, who had the bulk of the play. Power and Lewis Wood both had shots blocked in a frantic goalmouth scramble before ‘on the stroke’ the Wands got the second goal their dominance deserved.
Ross Lover curled in a delightful free-kick from the left and Aris stole in between ‘keeper and defenders to flick a deft header into the corner.
Bromley manager Simon Osborn brought himself on for Henry at the start of the second-half and immediately the balance of play altered, at least for a while. Danny Hockton headed against the post and Knight pulled off a fine diving save from Williams’ goalbound shot.
A goal looked on the cards and it duly arrived on 57 minutes. Sam Wood collected the ball near the half-way line, beat several players down the left wing and lashed home a tremendous strike. Cray supporters were reminded of a very similar goal Sam scored in the amber and black three years ago when the Wands ended AFC Wimbledon’s record unbeaten league run.
Cray were struggling slightly but two superb goals in quick succession put them back in total control. The first of these, after 66 minutes, is worthy of a detailed description. After a patient build-up on the right, Jamie Wood had the vision to pick out Power in space with a deft chip into the box. Shaggy’s ball across the goalmouth was chased down by Luckett who worked it back to Lover. Ross crossed back into the danger area and Jamie Kempster appeared, as if from nowhere, to head home at the near post.
Within 60 seconds, the Wands made it 4-1. Luckett, on his supposedly-weaker right foot, played a superb through ball that set Power free. Again he sent a low ball across the face of goal and this time Cottrell was on hand to knock the ball home from close range. Game over!
George Fenwick and Dean Morris came on shortly afterwards and the two Cray substitutes combined to set up the next goal, which came 15 minutes from the end. Fenwick’s surging run ended with a ball across to Morris, who was unceremoniously clattered from behind. This time Mr Mason did point to the spot, Lewis Wood doing the honours with the minimum of fuss.
And five minutes later, Fenwick himself became the sixth Cray goalscorer. He ran onto another superb through pass, this time from Lover, and finished sublimely, curling the ball past Williams with his left foot.
Bromley had been well and truly routed and their evening was summed up in the closing moments. Firstly, Williams hit the post with a free-kick and then Hockton, with a clear run on goal, was thwarted by Knight and Williams messed up the rebound.
Cray will meet Ebbsfleet or Margate in the final, with the venue apparently to be decided by a toss of a coin between the two finalists.
Cray Wanderers: Knight, Cottrell (Hall, 84), Luckett, L. Wood, Willy, Day, Lover, Kempster, J. Wood (Morris, 71), Aris, Power (Fenwick, 71). Unused subs: Whitnell and Sterling.
Attendance: 535. Cray Man of the Match: The Whole Team!
Anorak Corner· This was Cray’s first-ever win over a Conference South club. · In 1901 Cray lost 3-0 to Maidstone in the KSC final at Chatham. This was Cray’s biggest win over Bromley in a competitive match, though in 1892 (the year Bromley were formed) Cray beat them 11-1 in a friendly. Bromley beat Cray by the same scoreline in 1920 in a Kent Senior Cup-tie, in front of a crowd of 6,009.
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