Grays started the game well and immediately looked a threat as in the 1st minute Nathan Gordon was played in down the right and his shot was pushed away by the Sudbury goalkeeper.

In the 3rd minute Nathan Gordon broke down the right wing and crossed the ball into the area. The ball broke to Bradley Thomas on the penalty spot but his shot was well blocked by the Sudbury defence and the ball was eventually cleared.

The usual large Grays away following didn’t have to wait long for the breakthrough though as in the 4th minute Harry Agombar picked the ball up twenty-five yards out, weaved his way into the area past three Sudbury defenders and fired the ball low into the bottom left hand corner of the goal.

Grays almost doubled their lead in the 6th minute as a free kick crossed into the area by Harry Agombar was headed narrowly over the bar by Bradley Thomas.

Despite Grays’ early domination, the home side were soon level. In the 11th minute, the Sudbury midfield linked well to open Grays up and play James Baker in on the left hand side of area and his low drive was fired into the bottom corner of Tony Tucker’s goal.

The remainder of the first half was mostly contained to the middle of the pitch as both teams tried to wrestle control of the midfield battle.

By the end of the half both teams appeared to be getting frustrated with the close fought battle taking place as frustrations started to boil over.

In the 39th minute Craig Pope was booked for Grays and Pond for Sudbury as the two players squared up to each other following a foul by Pond. This incident was a sign of things to come as in the final minute of the half James Bunn dived in on Sudbury centre half James Smith causing a mass brawl between the two teams.

James Bunn was shown a yellow card for the tackle whilst James Smith was sent off for the retaliation as he raised his hands to James Bunn after the tackle.

The second half started slowly as Sudbury seemed content to see the game through with 10 men and Grays struggled to break them down.

In the 51st minute, James Bunn was played in down the right wing and his cross went narrowly over Harry Agombar’s head at the back post where he was unmarked.

Jason Fontaine was replaced by Joe Sweeney in the 63rd minute as he suffered with cramp and Grays changed their formation from 4-5-1 to 4-4-2.

The third and decisive goal of the game came shortly after in the 66th minute as a Grays corner was swung across by Jake Hall to the near post where Bradley Thomas was first to the ball to head in and put the away side back in front.

Sudbury tried hard to get back in the game but the Grays defence held strong to limit the home side strikes from distance that never troubled Tony Tucker.

Grays almost put the game beyond doubt in the 75th minute as a cross by Craig Pope from the right hand side was headed just over by Joe Sweeney.

In the 85th minute James Bunn was replaced by Jean-Michel Sigere and Grays saw out the remaining minutes to go one step closer to securing a playoff spot.

That spot could be virtually secured by the end of the bank holiday weekend; firstly with a win at home to Chatham Town on Saturday and then on Bank Holiday Monday away at Romford.

Grays Athletic: - Tony Tucker, Craig Pope, Grant Cooper, Bradley Thomas, Lee Flynn, Nathan Gordon, Jake Hall, Harry Agombar, Danny Bunce, Jason Fontaine (Joe Sweeney), James Bunn (Jean Michel Sigere)

Subs not used: - Junior Baker, Joe Smallwood, Stephen Ikumelo.

Report by Andrew Packer