Grays Ath 7 v 1 Witham Town

The Magnificent Seven is a staple part of many people’s Bank Holiday entertainment. This Boxing Day, Grays Ath delivered their own version of the classic, in a performance the likes of which Blues fans have not seen for many years – with six goals after the break and a memorable first outing for new signing Roman Campbell, who was one of three Grays players to find the net twice.
But the first twenty minutes of the game was an altogether different spectacle, Grays struggling to find any real rhythm to their play and Witham disrupting things with a number of hefty challenges that went unpunished by referee, Mr Dann-Pye, who was doing his best to let the game flow. The visitors indeed had the first chance of the game after just five minutes when striker Adam Vyse, perennially a thorn in Blues’ side, was brought down on the edge of the box. He got up and took the free kick but the home wall did its job.
The game was getting increasingly tetchy and Blues’ mood was not helped in the 23rd minutes when a Liam Whipps free kick caused panic in the home defence and Vyse was on hand to poke home and take a 1-0 lead for Witham. However, Grays struck back almost immediately. A cross from the ever-lively Aron Gordon was met by Sam Bantick and his nod back across goal found debutant Roman Campbell who was impeded when trying to head home. Bantick planted the resulting penalty firmly, to equalise at 1-1.
Luke Ige for the visitors went on a lung-busting run but ran out of options as he neared the penalty box and Campbell nearly opened his Blues account just before the break when he headed a Ronnie Winn cross goalwards but the ball was adjudged not to have crossed the line before being hacked away.

Half time: Grays Ath 1 v 1 Witham Town

Whatever Blues manager, Lewis Dark, said in the changing room during the break, must go down as one of the best team talks in the club’s long history. The second 45 minutes was a masterclass.
The half was just a couple of minutes in when Ronnie Winn played a ball through to Bantick. With the visitors’ defence looking for an offside flag that never came, the Blues marksman calmly scored his second of the afternoon for a 2-1 lead. Witham keeper Rhys Madden will think he should have done better.
And in a blink it was 3-1. Bantick and Campbell, already looking an assured partnership up front, combined well to feed Aron Gordon, who took the opportunity to stretch the lead with aplomb.
The floodgates were now well and truly open, with the Witham defence struggling to cope with the Blues pace and movement across the pitch. But amidst the fine attacking display, mention must also be made of the renewed centre-half paring of Lewis Clark and the returning Callum Leahy, who between them let nothing pass.
The fourth goal was a rarity indeed. Twenty minutes into the half, Campbell was joined down the right flank by Courtney Homans, and between them they found Bantick. His inch-perfect cross was headed home by Aron Gordon – a real collectors item !
Grays were now unstoppable. Just a few minutes later, Gordon and Campbell exchanged a delightful series on passes on the left edge of the Witham box and the latter found himself in space to tap the ball home for his first Grays goal and a 5-1 lead.
Callum Watts, off the bench, was then unlucky not to get his name on the scoresheet when he let fly one of his trademark long-range efforts which just went wide of the post with Madden helpless. Sam Bantick was also close to his hat-trick when he went on a mazy run into the Witham penalty area but his shot deflected for a corner.
But Grays were not to be denied the proverbial cricket score. Their other recent signing Chayce Grant, was brought on for his debut and immediately looked lively. And he too soon had his name on the board when he cut in from the left and shot past Madden into the far corner of the net to make it 6-1.
And there was still time, for Roman Campbell to cap off a memorable first appearance in a Blue shirt, with the seventh from close range.
The cheers from the Blues faithful fans at the final whistle marked an unforgettable performance from the entire squad and the biggest win by any team in Isthmian 1N so far this season. Manager Lewis Dark must have been delighted with the way that his new signings fitted in perfectly and for the front three of Bantick, Gordon and Campbell, it was an afternoon they won’t forget in a hurry.

Final score: Grays Ath 7 – 1 Witham Town
Grays Ath: Sambridge, Homans, G.Winn (Joynes, 46), R.Winn (Grant, 76), L.Clark, Leahy, Gordon, Toussaint (Watts, 52), Bantick, Hahn, Campbell
Subs not used: R.Clark, Chukwu