A first home game of the season, and it was a first win for Lewis Dark’s Blues, beating Maldon & Tiptree 2-0 thanks to goals from Courtney Homans and Correy Davidson.

Grays got off to a good start under the Parkside lights on Wednesday night. While an unexpected wedding reception in the bar area provided some toe-tapping tunes for fans in the stand, the Blues finally found some rhythm on the pitch after a goalless draw in the season opener at Coggeshall on Saturday.

Wingers Ryan Melaugh and Aron Gordon both had early attempts saved by Tom Middleshurst in goal for Maldon, but it was the away side who thought they had gone in front. The ball was looped into the box and flicked past Danny Sambridge by a Maldon player. The linesman seemed unsure whether the forward was offside, but following a discussion with the referee, the goal was ruled out.

Gordon was causing havoc for the Maldon defenders with his continued mazy runs followed by shots on goal or dangerous crosses. However, it was Grays’ other outlet from the right where the opening goal came from. Right-back Courtney Homans latched on to a loose ball and skipped past three Maldon defenders before unleashing an early toe-punt, which caught the goalkeeper by surprise and nestled into the bottom corner. It was Homans first goal for the club and made it 1-0 on 34 minutes.

The Blues thought they had made it 2-0 shortly after. Another Gordon shot was saved by Middleshurst and turned behind. Melaugh swung the ball in from the subsequent corner and the curve on the ball took it straight into goal, but the referee blew his whistle for a foul on the goalkeeper.

Into the second half and an early chance for Maldon forced Sambridge into action. The ball was lifted over Grays captain Lewis Clark and the visitors’ half time substitute Scott Kemp hit a thumping shot that was well tipped over by Grays’ number one.

In the 69th minute, an inspired substitution from Lewis Dark put the game to bed, as Correy Davidson came on for Melaugh. Gordon finally got the reward he deserved from his continued exploits on the Grays right wing when he drove past the defender and squared the ball for striker Sam Bantick. Athletic’s number nine scuffed his shot but Correy popped up at the back post to tap in with his first touch of the game, having been on the pitch for less than a minute.

Grays looked comfortable in the closing moments of the match and saw out their first league win of the 2022/23 campaign. Encouragingly too, Sambridge and his back four will be delighted with a second consecutive clean sheet, giving the Blues four points from their opening two games, and moving up to 6th in the Isthmian North league table. Next up, it’s Stotfold away in the FA Cup Preliminary Round on Saturday, before a return to league action at home to Brentwood on the 27th August.

Att: 276