Match Preview
The Opposition: Bognor Regis Town
The Location: Aveley FC, Mill Field
The Time: Saturday 20th August 2016, 3PM
The History: The last 10 games between the sides have all taken place in league matches. 8 have been in the Ryman League Premier Division with a couple of Conference South games sandwiched in between. The record of these games is 4 Grays wins, 4 Bognor wins and a goalless draw. The highlight for Grays has to be consecutive 6-0 victories. The first was a Ryman League match in 2004. The scorers were Martin Carthy, Danny Hayzelden, Leroy Griffiths and a Freddy Eastwood hat trick. The second was also 2004 but in Conference South, the scorers that day were Gary Hooper, Steve West, Mitchell Cole, Stuart Thurgood, Tony Battersby and Dennis Oli. Impressive stuff but that is in the past and Bognor have dominated the more recent matches. They done the double over Grays last season with a 3-0 victory at Nyewood Lane and a 2-0 win at Mill Field.
The Form: Grays played their first home game of the campaign last Wednesday and despite a spirited performance, they went down 3-1 to newly promoted AFC Sudbury, although manager Jamie Stuart saw enough to be encouraged for the season ahead.
Bognor have started the season with an identical record to Blues. They have a 3-1 home defeat against Lowestoft and they also had a 11 away draw. That come in the week at Merstham with The Rocks goal coming from Pearce.
The Players: Blues striker Lheureux Menga scored his official goal for the club on Wednesday and will be looking to add to that against Bognor. Jamie Stuart managed 45 minutes as he looks to gel the team that was put together during the close season.
Bognor’s Ollie Pearce scored last time out for Rocks and the young player is a product of the clubs youth set up. He has attracted the attention of a number of football league clubs and will be a player to watch during Saturday's game.
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