It was the Blues who pushed early on to take the game and Harry Agombar was unlucky not to get onto a long kick from George Kamurasi and a Carlos corner was cleared from a congested area as the Blues looked to add to their goal tally. Ilford looked to attack on the break and Danny Gabriel was unlucky to hit his shot over when he latched onto a Shane Stamp cross. Not to be out done Grays put together a series of one touch attacks and a superb move between Craig Pope, James Bunn and Agombar saw Carlos clear but his shot slid wide.

James Bunn was at his best as he held up the ball and placed his pass into the path of Carlos but again he pulled his shot wide but it looked to be only a matter of time before Grays took the lead as they controlled the half for long periods, and Carlos had the ball in the net from a Lee Flynn free kick only to be adjudged offside. The lively Stamp chased hard and found himself clear one on one with Kamurasi but a superb diving save at Stamp’s feet saved the day.

Carlos was having a “man of the match” performance and his testing corner floated in as Junior Baker saw his well struck header cleared off the line. Ilford were digging in to disrupt play and a midfield stalemate ensued but it was Carlos who managed to break the deadlock when he cut in from the right to hit a low shot past Rob Budd and over the line to give the Blues the lead on the half hour. Grays pushed to add another goal before half time and Carlos shot wide twice, Flynn’s cross was cleared and another corner from Carlos was held by Budd under pressure from Baker. The half ended with Grays on top and looking better than their single goal.

The tense second half began with the home side carrying on in the same vein and on their first serious attack Craig Pope found space on the right to find Nathan Gordon clear. His low cross went through the defence to find Carlos free on the far post to tap in to score his, and Grays, second goal. Grays should have been coasting for the rest of the match but Ilford belied their low league position with some forceful attacking play to bring the game back to within their grasp. Stamp ran clear of the defence to bear down on goal and a tackle by Flynn was adjudged a foul to give the away side a penalty. Gabriel stepped up to hit his shot but a diving one handed save saw Kamurasi push the ball clear of danger and see the ball cleared upfield.

A long pass back found Carter clear and he managed to wriggle clear of the defence to hit a low shot into the corner to pull a goal back. Ilford were on top looking to level and Kamurasi had to be aware as a series of free kicks came in. It was a Hazelwood free-kick that went to Stamp and his run and cross found Gabriel running at the back post to hit the ball into the net to level within ten minutes of the half.

Grays almost got back in front when Baker headed wide from an Agombar corner but, shortly after, Carlos was felled in a tough tackle and lay prone for several minutes. Anthony Ryan came on for Bunn and Joe Sweeney came on for Carlos as Grays had to reshuffle due to the injury and the half fizzled into a tense midfield battle as neither team could find a way through, but errors started to creep into the home defence as Stamp forced a save from Kamurasi and Hazelwood hit a shot wide.

In a frantic last ten minutes Grays tried to up the tempo and eventually found a way through when Agombar hit a free-kick into the box and in the melee Hazelwood deflected the ball past Budd to hand the lead back to the Blues. The final whistle went to end a fraught game with the points going to the home side.

Grays Athletic: - George Kamurasi, Lee Flynn, Grant Cooper, Junior Baker, Craig Pope, Joao Carlos (Joe Sweeney), Harry Agombar, Kenny Beaney, Nathan Gordon, Jake Hall (Danny Bunce), James Bunn (Anthony Ryan)

Subs not used: - Paul Olima, Jean-Michel Sigere.

Report by Steve Allen