The New Year brough no change in luck for Grays Ath, as their barren festive period continued with a 1-0 defeat at home to Maldon & Tiptree, although the second half performance showed promise for the future.

The only goal of the game came as early as the 8th minute when Terrell Egbri picked up the ball on the right wing, cut in and his shot deflected off a body, giving Danny Sambridge in the Grays goal no chance. Just the sort of luck that befalls a team when things are going against you.

That said, Grays were too often guilty of conceding possession cheaply and being second to the loose ball. Although Blues had their chances, there was little to trouble the Maldon & Tiptree keeper, Luca Collins. Jordan Peart’s pacy run down the left led to a corner that was readily cleared by the defence and Omar Dacus set up Alejandro Machado, whose shot just cleared the crossbar.

The better chances were falling to the visitors. Marcus Milner was on hand to prevent Egbri a second sight at goal and then late in the half, Michael Finneran twice denied the visitors with fine late challenges. Firstly, a last ditch tackle to stop Louis Bretton pulling the trigger and then repeating the trick on George Smith.

Half time: Grays Ath 0 v 1 Maldon & Tiptree

Whatever Darren Manning said in the dressing room during the break clearly had an effect on Grays, as the second half performance was much improved. Blues enjoyed long periods of possession, keeping the visitors deep in their own half. But again, it needed the finishing touch to complete the job.

Kian Connolly had the best two chances of the half within five minutes of the restart, heading over from a Rob Clark cross, when he should at least have hit the target and then forcing Collins into his best save of the afternoon, tipping a long range effort over the bar. But the visitors’ defence was well marshalled and Grays were largely confined to shots from distance, unable to get the ball into any area that might really hurt.

Sambridge’s only real concern of the second period was a long range effort from Jayden Gipson, midway through the half, that he pushed over the crossbar.

With time running out, Blues thought they had found a way back into the game. Peart went on another of his sprints down the line and cut into the penalty area and was unceremoniously felled in the challenge. But the referee, Mr Woods, chose only to award a corner, assuming that the defender had taken the ball.

So a third defeat for Blues over the festive period, all against teams in the top half of the table. But as Darren Manning indicated in his post-match comments, the second half performance has set the level for the intensity of play he is seeking from the squad, and doesn’t expect things to drop from there.

Final score: Grays Athletic 0 v 1 Maldon & Tiptree

Grays Ath: Sambridge, Milner (Matyar, 32), Peart, Clark, Finneran, Humphrey, Gordon, Crook (Osei-Bobie, 70), Connolly, Machado, Dacus (Olukolu, 65)

Subs not used: Gibson, Cosgrave