After this week's managerial upheaval and with some familiar faces in the dug out this weekend, on Saturday 21st February and, weather permitting, Grays travel around the M25 to face old adversaries, Waltham Abbey, at their Capershotts stadium. Kick off is 3.00pm.

Last season's league game at Capershotts was played in early January and resulted in a narrow 1-0 win for the home side. Their scorer was substitute, Jason Hallett, who extended his fine personal scoring record against The Blues, going back over 20 years.

That game was followed two weeks later by the return game at the EMR which was a thriller, ending 5-3 to The Abbots. Lewwis Spence opened the scoring for Waltham, before two quick goals from Luke Hirst and Samir Ali gave Grays the lead before Spence got his second. Two goals from Luke Deslandes meant a frenetic half ended 4-2 to The Abbots. Luke Hirst pulled one back midway through the second period, before substitute, Prince Domafriyie, made it 5-3.

The reverse game this season was played at the EMR in late November and was a close affair decided by Ellis Brown's second half goal for The Abbots. Grays came desperately close to the equaliser in injury time when Kye Jude's shot was saved, miraculously, by Abbots keeper, Bradley Robinson.

That left the Head to Head record against Abbey at P19 W9 D2 L8. In just League games the record stands at P11 W3 D1 L7. The key stat here is that we have lost our last 6 league games against them, conceding 18 goals. In fact when we last beat them in a league game, David Cameron was Prime Minister, the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic was being commemorated and we were looking forward to hosting the Olympics in London.

That last win was on 21st April 2012 and remarkably, The Abbots current skipper, Sam Robbins, played in that game.

Abbey's manager is Billy Holland who has been in charge since September 2018 when previous manager, Mark Stimson, left to take over at Hornchurch. Billy's assistant is Spencer Harrison.

They finished in 4th place last season, before losing in the play off semi final away at Bury Town and were expected to be in the mix again this season. They are currently in 3rd position with 57 points from 30 games played. On their day they are possibly the best footballing team in the division and showcased this at the end of November with a stunning 7-2 win at leaders, Felixstowe and Walton.

As is often the case with successful teams, their squad is very settled with few player movements. Their top scorers this season are former Blue, Kai Brown with an impressive 19 goals (17 in the league), Aaron Eyoma has 15 (10) and Amrit Bansal-Mcnulty has 12 (8).

Recent Form

In their last 6 games, Abbey have W3, D1 L2 with 13 goals for and 8 against.
In their last 6 home games they have W5 D1 L0 with 13 goals for and 5 against.

In comparison Grays have W2 D1 L3 with 6 goals for and 6 against.
In away games the form is W1 D1 L4 with 5 goals for and 13 against.

Last Time Out

Abbey picked up a very important win away on the Norfolk coast, 3-1, against play off rivals Gorleston. It was a good day if your surname is Brown, as Ellis scored twice and Kai grabbed the other.

For Grays, it was another one of those days we have seen so often this season where nothing seems to go right. A home game against Heybridge was always going to be tough given their need for three points. A tight first half ended with Heybridge accepting a couple of gifts to go 2-0 up. In the second half, Grays missed several chances and found Tommy Dixon Hodge in Swifts goal in top form. Even after Swifts were reduced to 10 men, Grays did not have the nous to really open them up, relying too much on set pieces where the defence was always set and ready.

To make things even worse, we also lost Alex Moss to what was later confirmed to be a fractured ankle. Alex has been excellent since his return to us from Canvey and we will miss him greatly. We of course wish him well in his recovery.

Summary

The Abbots are 12 points behind 2nd placed Maldon and Tiptree and 13 behind Felixstowe and that gap looks too big to close unless something extraordinary happens. Therefore, the prize for them will be to win the race for third place and a home tie in the play off semi final. We can expect The Abbots to be right up for the game.

From Grays perspective, the loss to Heybridge once again drags us back into the relegation picture. A big improvement in performance will be needed to get anything against The Abbots, playing on their excellent surface at Capershotts, certainly the best grass pitch in this division.

Getting There

The Capershotts stadium is on Sewardstone Road and the postcode is EN9 1NX.

By car take the M25 to J26 and at the roundabout at the end of the slip road, take the second exit onto Dowding Way (A121). At the next roundabout take the third exit toward Waltham Abbey. The turning to the ground is straight after the bridge over the M25. If you pass the cemetery on the right you have missed the turn.

There is a good sized car park.

The nearest station is Waltham Cross with three scheduled trains an hour running out of Liverpool Street. The journey takes 25 minutes. Please check for any travel disruption.

The stadium is just over a mile away from the station. Head along the main road into Waltham Abbey until the junction with Sewardstone Road and then turn right. Several buses run between Waltham Cross and Waltham Abbey.

The lads will need every voice loud and proud, as the first team look to reset. We look forward to seeing you all at Capershotts, getting behind the boys in Blue.

Away The Ath!