Matches

BLUES UNABLE TO UNLOCK URCHINS
by David Jarvis

Grays locked horns with near neighbours Hornchurch on a breezy afternoon at the Rec but were unable to find the cutting edge necessary to clinch all three points. In many ways the tie had “draw” written all over it – Grays having the league’s only unbeaten home record and Urchins possessing the league’s meanest defence.

Blues started the game minus Leroy Griffiths due to a three-match suspension after his sending off against Heybridge, meaning ex-Hornchurch striker Lloyd Opara partnered Freddie Eastwood up front.

With the wind behind them in the first half, Blues had the better of the play and should have gone one up after 26 minutes. Lloyd Opara was unable to find a decisive shot from six yards after good work from Freddie Eastwood and Eddie Youds.

Eastwood, fresh from trials at Charlton Athletic in midweek, looked electric in and around the box but Blues’ reliance on his talent was all too evident.

In the second half, the game became a tense midfield battle as Hornchurch, with the wind at their backs, increased the pressure on the Grays defence.

However, goalmouth action was few and far between and the game was mired into a series of free kicks and bookings for both sides.

Nevertheless, Grays could have settled it with five minutes to go. Ellis Remy, on for Lloyd Opara, was put through by a ball over the top of the Urchins’ defence. But Remy, under pressure from a central defender and goalkeeper Daniel Gay, couldn’t make his effort count.

Grays stretch their unbeaten home record to twenty games, but fall behind in the race for the runners’ up positions in the Ryman Premier.

Grays Athletic
Capleton, Bruce, Youds, Robinson, Lunan, Daly, Thurgood, Carthy, Hayzelden, Eastwood, Opara Subs: Barrett, Bradshaw, Remy, Olayinka

Hornchurch
Gay, Dell, Rowland, Adedeji, John, Southon, Robert Martin, John Martin, Douglas, Brayley, Keeling Subs: Abbott, Golding, Graham, McCowan, McCartney

Attendance: 407

Forthcoming fixtures