On Saturday 28th March, Grays Athletic make the familiar journey north up the M11, this time to play Mildenhall Town at their Riverside Stadium. Kick off is at 3.00pm.

Saturday is also annual Non League Day, (NLD), chosen to coincide with an International break. The purpose of NLD is to highlight the game outside the PL and EFL and hopefully encourage fans to go to a game, perhaps for the first time. It is a good opportunity, especially for the team playing at home on NLD.

What's that I hear you say; Grays playing away on Non League Day, surely not? Yes, for the 5th season on the spin, Blues have been handed an away fixture on NLD. For those interested, there's one chance in 32 of that happening. Maybe it's just that we are such good guests? I'm looking forward to us getting a good home game on NLD next season, but I think I said that last year....

Mildenhall have made entrance free to anyone coming through the turnstiles before 1.30pm and half price before 2pm. Well done to The Hall for this initiative, hopefully they will be rewarded with a big crowd, increased bar takings and more converts to the non league game.

Our friends from The Offside Trust will also be in attendance, so go and say hello and give them a donation to help with their important work.

Our Last Meeting

When we met in January at the EMR, Mildenhall took the lead on 64 minutes through Ryan Swift, but this sparked Grays into life as first Oscar Shelvey equalised on 72 minutes, before Alex Moss put us in front 8 minutes later. Finally, in injury time, Aron Gordon broke from the half way line before finishing with confidence to secure a vital 3 points. Who knows how important that turnaround may prove to be at the end of the campaign?

Last Season's Corresponding Game

We met at Mildenhall in August in what was the opening game of the 2024/25 league season. This was The Hall's first match back in the Isthmian ranks following their relegation in 2018/19. Oddly their last game of their relegation season was also a home game versus The Blues which we won 3-0 with goals from Dennis Oli, Mitch Hahn and Michael Toner.

Last season's game at Mildenhall finished 2-2. Blues took the lead through Elliot Sartorius, before Hall equalised courtesy of Adam Capel. A few minutes later and Bobby Unwin finished to give us a 2-1 lead at half time. Attacking down the slope in the second half, Blues were profligate in the final third and were punished at the death when Jarid Robson scored with a superb diving header.

Head to Head Record v Hall

In competitive games against Mildenhall we have P8 W3 D4 L1. Within this is an FA Cup tie when Grays won 2-0 in the 3rd Qualifying Round. The Hall's one victory was at home, back in February 2018, by 2-1.

Hall's Manager

The man in charge is former player, Phil Weavers, who was appointed in April 2022, taking over from Ricky Cornish. Phil is assisted by Daryl Coakley and Lloyd Groves. It has been confirmed that Phil will be standing down at the end of this season.

Hall's Season So Far

It has been a roller coaster of a campaign for Mildenhall as they occupied a top 10 position until mid November, when a combination of match postponements, losses and an abandonment when leading against Felixstowe and Walton, saw them fall down the table and join the battle to avoid the drop.

They are in 18th place, one position and 2 points ahead of The Blues, but with a worse goal difference. This makes Saturday's game a big one for both sides; a proper six pointer.

Top Scorers

Mildenhall have scored 47 goals in 36 league games with 29 of those goals coming at home. Their top scorer is Ryan Sharman with 13 goals (11 in league action). He is in good form with 9 of his goals scored in the last 8 home games. Their other leading scorers are Ryan Swift with 10 (9) and Ben Nolan who has 8 (7).

Recent Form

In their last 6 games Mildenhall have W1 D1 L4 with 7 goals for and 12 goals against.
Specifically in home games their last 6 shows W1 D0 L5 with 7 goals for and 11 goals against.
For Grays, the last 6 games have resulted in W2 D1 L3 with 4 goals for and 5 goals against.
In our last 6 away from home W1 D2 L3 goals for 4 goals against 6.

Last Time for Each Side

Mildenhall travelled down the M11 to play off chasing Waltham Abbey at Capershotts. The Abbots were looking for revenge for a defeat at Mildenhall earlier in the campaign and were successful, winning 3-1. The goals came from Kai Brown (2) and Ben Baker with Hall's reply scored by Callum Anderson. That result and Bowers defeat at Maldon puts the Abbots in pole position to finish 3rd and bag that all important home tie in the play off semi finals.

For Grays, on a sunny afternoon in Downham Market, there were debuts for Myles Anderson (our 12th Centre Half this season; take note as its going to be one of Chris's quiz questions next year), and Ramiah Mills, both signed from Heybridge Swifts and both had very good games on debut.

It was a frustrating game for The Blues, but no-one could reasonably criticise the boys effort, attitude and discipline. We dominated possession and territory but ran into a very spirited rearguard from Downham who deserve a lot of credit. Up front for Downham was Harley Merkin, who gave our defence a hairy time as he threw himself into every challenge with gusto. That may have been in the back of George Marsh's mind as he stretched to clear a dangerous through ball, picking up an injury in the process. The loose ball was worked back to Merkin who rolled into the empty net to give Downham a half time lead.

The second half had barely started when the referee awarded Downham a penalty which no-one appealed for. Eoin McQuaid never really connected with his spot kick and George guessed correctly and saved well to keep the score at 1-0. We pushed forward, bombarding Town's box, but Downham still looked dangerous on the break. Ramiah hit the bar before Charlie Stimson headed the ball into the net, but Gabriel Chapps, standing on the line, had apparently flicked the ball in, so it was disallowed.

Summary

This is a game of great significance to both sides and it should be one that we are looking forward to; bring it on!

Sure it may be tense and as a famous former Manager once said, it could be squeaky bum time However, it is still the same three points we compete for in every game; on its own it won't define either club's season.

We have been lucky recently with other results around us going our way, but one truth remains; that the only thing we can control is our own performance in each of our final 6 games; get that right and we should be fine.

Mildenhall finish their season with home games against Downham Town and Walthamstow, and away games at Cambridge City and the top two, Maldon and Tiptree and Felixstowe and Walton.

Getting There

If you are booked on the coach, it leaves The Oak at 11.15.

By car, the Riverside Stadium's postcode is IP28 7HG. Take the M25 and M11 North to J9 and then the A11 and A14 to J38. Here take the A11 for about 5 miles to the Fiveways Roundabout. Take the first exit, the A1101 into Mildenhall. At the war memorial, turn left into King Street and enter the Sainsbury's car park. Go through the car park and down the slope to the lower level and you can park here free of charge.

The turnstiles are accessed via steps to the side of the car park.

Mildenhall has a great bar and with it being Non League Day, there should be a special atmosphere. It's a big game and your support matters more than ever. So we look forward to seeing you all at Mildenhall, being loud and proud, but of course, always respectful.

Come on You G's!!