Waltham Forest 1 - 2 Grays Athletic

The early exchanges were very tentative as both teams tried to sound each other out looking for the break, but David Cowley and Jared Small looked lively as they tried to take the game to Forest. A Cowley corner saw Small head across the box for Junior Baker to just head wide.

Forest were very tenacious and a through pass from Gaz Dauti found Josh Bonnett clear only for him to collide with Ali Aksoy as the ref waved away penalty claims. Grays players were finding it hard to control the ball on the bumpy pitch, especially Small who missed several chances due to the ball bouncing around, but it was Baker who nearly opened the scoring when his header went just wide from a Joao Carlos cross.

Waltham weathered the pressure and almost scored when Manu Dagher found himself clear to see his shot go wide. Harry Agombar was mastering the conditions better than most as his cross found Joe Sweeney but his hurried shot went just wide. Another Agombar cross again found Sweeney who hit the bar with his close range shot.

A long ball from Aaron Omand found Nicholas and Gauti free of Grays defence but neither could control the ball as it rolled harmlessly wide. Another Sweeney effort finished the half as both teams walked off at 0-0 for all their effort.

Forest came out for the second half looking to take the game to the Blues and a clearance off the line by Kenny Beaney, from a Palmer shot, saved a certain goal as a nervy Aksoy allowed the ball to go past. Forest’s Bonnett put Hammond through to take the ball past the Grays keeper to see his shot go wide of the post in front of an open goal. This became the wakeup call Grays needed, and from the goal kick Aksoy found Small who headed the ball to Sweeney, a clever chest down and turn saw Sweeney slot the ball into the corner to open the scoring on 56 minutes.

A period of Grays pressure saw them control the half for long periods, but they couldn’t capitalise on their domination as Small, Baker and Beaney all had chances that went harmlessly wide. Jason Fontaine came on for the tiring Cowley and immediately put an accurate cross in for Carlos to turn and hit the bar.

Small ran hard all game but could not see his runs end in goals as he hit several chances wide. Danny Bunce came on for Agombar, as a straight swap, but before he could settle in a Forest corner forced a good save from Aksoy as Hammond shot goal wards. A floated free kick from Bunce was hit wide by Sweeney, and a corner from Beaney was hit against the bar by Cooper as Grays looked for the second goal. From the goal kick the ball came into the Grays area and a clumsy challenge by Cooper saw the ref award a penalty, Cooper himself was injured and was replaced by Eljay Worrell. Bonnett duly stepped up to level the scores in the 84th minute.

Instead of the heads dropping Grays came forward looking for the winner but some solid defending by the home back four prevented the Blues from converting the last pressure. Grays forced a corner deep into added time, and the cross from Bunce bounced loose in the Forest area for Beaney to stab the ball home from close range to give Grays the lead and eventually the hard fought victory.

The final whistle blew as a relieved Grays contingent celebrated a tough game. Forest will surprise a lot of teams this season with their passion and drive but a thankful crowd left knowing that this victory was hard earned.

Grays Athletic: - Ali Aksoy, Lee Flynn, Junior Baker, Grant Cooper (Eljay Worrell 84), Craig Pope, David Cowley (Jason Fontaine 60), Kenny Beaney, Harry Agombar (Danny Bunce 72), Joao Carlos, Joe Sweeney, Jared Small.

Subs Not Used: - Stephen Northwood, Jay Nash.