Grays Athletic 0 - 0 Waltham Forest

Grays started the game very lively and a lovely move saw David Cowley pass to Craig Pope and his pass flicked on by Jared Small to bring back in Cowley to hit a shot goal wards only to be well cleared by the Forest defence. Grays were pushing to take the game to the visitors using Joao Carlos and Cowley on the wings but the Forest defence held steady as a Cowley cross was headed clear with Louis Dennis bearing down. Stanley Muguo was finding space in the middle and released Cowley to take on the defence, his cross found Jared Small but his header looped over the bar.

Muguo almost put the Blues in the lead when his hard hit shot was fumbled by away keeper, Barrett, and the ball almost dropped into the goal but just prevented from doing so. Forest worked hard to get into the match and a long clearance found Kalipha clear, but a superb timed tackle by Junior Baker saw the ball safely back to Tony Tucker.

In a period of pressure Grays played some good one touch football but could not find the end result. A series of corners came to nothing and a Danny Bunce forward run saw Harry Agombar cross into the path of Small but a solid punch from Barrett cleared the area. A free kick from Agombar went wide and Cowley saw his run and shot headed clear.

The away side came back into the half and a run by Dacher saw his cross cleared by Pope with Shittu in attendance, then an error by Muguo allowed Dacher another run but Baker was on hand to clear the ball wide. Agombar floated a free kick into the area for Barrett to half clear to Cowley. His cross found the head of Grant Cooper but the ball went just over.

Barrett was under severe pressure when a corner from Carlos was punched clear then a Dennis shot was fumbled to be cleared by Douglas. A last minute move saw another run by Cowley lifted into the path of Small but Barrett was at hand to clear as the half ended and with no goals for the home side despite their possession.

The second half became a period of attrition as neither team could control the ball on an increasingly heavy pitch. It was Forest who created the first chance when a well hit free kick by Luke Stanley curved round the wall and hit the bottom of the right post and bounced along the line to run clear of danger.

Cowley was still looking to find ways through and his clever run inside saw his cross hit low by Dennis for Barrett to save low to his left. The ball was held in midfield as neither team could open the play with the ball sticking on the badly cut-up pitch. Players were losing their footing, but Forest found a way through with a long clearance to Stanley however he couldn’t find a way past Bunce. Both players ended with yellow cards as they both became frustrated with the pitch.

Leon Mckenzie came on for Small and Joe Sweeney came on for Dennis as the Blues looked to try to win the game but it was Douglas who started to open the game with his quick runs. He latched onto a pass from Dacher but hit his shot over and then ran clear of the defence twice to be covered by Cooper and then Baker as the away side had the momentum.

Grays could have won the match in the dying seconds when a corner from Carlos was headed goal bound by Anthony Ryan. A sharp save by Barrett saw the ball drop and then hit over the bar from close range by Cooper with the defence beaten. The game finished after a series of long passes by both teams as they tried any means to win the game after what turned out to be a dour second half.

Grays Athletic: - Tony Tucker, Craig Pope, Grant Cooper, Junior Baker, Danny Bunce, Joao Carlos, Stanley Muguo, Harry Agombar, David Cowley (Anthony Ryan 81), Jared Small (Leon McKenzie 60), Louis Dennis (Joe Sweeney 70)

Subs not used: - Lee Flynn, Paul Olima.

Report by Steve Allen