Brentwood Town 2 v 0 Grays Athletic

On a difficult pitch, only passed playable shortly before the match, with a strong wind making ball control a real challenge, Grays failed to shine and surrendered two goals late in the second half, handing the points to Brentwood and falling outside the playoff places as a result.
That said Blues had the better of the first half, although the wind often caused passes to be overhit and headers difficult to judge. Brentwood should have taken the lead in just the second minute when Jack Adlington crossed but somehow Ross Wall managed to put his volley wide from close range. At the other end Grays had the ball bouncing around the home area before Lewis Clark shot over the bar.
Ronnie Winn then forced a good save from the Brentwood keeper, Melvin Minter, with a shot from the edge of the box, before a great passing move between Aron Gordon and Mitch Hahn found Marlon Agyakwa, whose shot was blocked for a corner. A Hahn long throw, with the wind behind him, also allowed Clark a free header, which just cleared the crossbar.
Brentwood were looking particularly good on the break. Courtney Homans was called into action to block an attack after Clark failed to deal with a long clearance and Macauley Joynes did likewise when Adlington and the industrious Brian Ifeanyi threatened.
Blues fans thought they had taken the lead just after the half hour, when Roman Campbell’s pass found Aron Gordon running into the penalty area. His shot beat Minter but only nestled into the side netting.

Half time: Brentwood Town 0 v 0 Grays Ath

For much of the second half there was, to be honest, little in your correspondent’s notebook to report. Brentwood had the lion’s share of possession but they couldn’t create the clear chance they were looking for. Ifeanyi remained a threat down the right, but was well-marshalled all afternoon by Joynes. In general, both defences seemed comfortable and for long periods, it was a game that had 0-0 written all over it.
But on 75 minutes, Brentwood found acres of space down the left wing with Solomon Ogumwomoju and his cross was deftly turned in by Connor Hogan for a 1-0 lead.
If anything, the home side looked the more likely to stretch their lead. James Folkes tested Danny Sambridge and Hogan’s shot was turned wide for a corner.
Deep into injury time, a long Sambridge clearance found Lewis Clark but his shot couldn’t beat Minter and Brentwood went straight down the other end and George Craddock found himself in the clear to shoot and make it 2-0 to Brentwood.
So, a day to forget for Blues, when they simply couldn’t create enough to claim the points and at the end of the day could have few complaints at the result. With so many teams in the promotion charge, there will continue to be a merry-go-round of results between now and the end of the season. Hopefully, Blues can keep in the chase.

Final score: Brentwood Town 2 v 0 Grays Ath
Grays Ath: Sambridge, Homans, Joynes, R.Winn (Gardner, 76), L.Clark, Gordon, Watts (Bantick, 78), Hahn, Campbell, G.Winn, Agyakwa (Stagg, 64)
Sub not used: Griek