Blues sign off season with victory

Grays Ath claimed victory against visitors Ipswich Wanderers in their final match of the season. The occasion was marked by a Community Day at the club, which saw a bumper crowd, cake sale, tombola, face painting, visits from local primary schools,, a “beat the first team keeper” penalty competition and much more besides.

Whilst the game can hardly be filed under “five goal thriller” although there were goals aplenty. And the match probably summed up Blues' whole season - a fantastic, dominating 30 minutes of football followed by a long period of switching off and letting the opposition make the running, then trying to claw the game back.

Grays started the game very much on the front foot. And in just the third minute, Matas Skarna fed Elliott Sartorius and his shot from the edge of the box was only parreyed by Wanderers keeper, Daniel Cullum. In the ensuing melee, Charlie Stimson was felled and referee Mr Ripton had no hesitation in awarding the penalty, which Stimson himself calmly converted.

Ipswich showed flashes of skill, especially from right back Paul Coelho, who caused real problems out wide and it was his cross that split the Grays defence but there was no white shirt in the box to apply a finish.

At the other end, Aron Gordon was setting about his work and finding plenty of gaps in the visitors defence, to run in to. He set up chances for Stimson and Sartorius but the best was probably for Albert Perry, who headed just over from Gordon’s cross.

And it was that man Gordon again just before the half hour, cutting in from the right wing and picking out Stimson with a low cross, and he volleyed smartly past Cullum for a 2-0 lead. At that point it was no more than Grays deserved.

But the goal seemed to wake the visitors and they hit back immediately. Jamal Goodward advancing down the left after beating Aaron Clarke to the ball and crossing for Jamie Eaton-Collins to power home a header and reduce the deficit.

There was though still time before the break, for Grays to create further chances. Sartorius let fly from a mile out, a shot that Cullum could only palm round the post, with Michael Finneran heading wide from the resulting corner. And then just before the whistle, Gordon made space for himself but saw his effort come back off the upright.

Half time: Grays Athletic 2 v 1 Ipswich Wanderers

Whatever the Ipswich manager said to his squad during the break clearly had an effect as they were much more in the game in the second half. Blues chose to sit back and play long balls out of defence, which really doesn’t suit their players and this rather gifted control of the game to the visitors. Wanderers centre forward, Matt Blake dropped deeper to collect the ball and was able to influence things much more. And up front the partnership of Goodward and Eaton-Collins always looked dangerous. So it was no surprise when these two combined again to bring the scores level with just ten minutes left on the clock. But this time, Eaton-Collins turned provider for his partner-in-crime with a lovely through ball that split the Grays defence and Goodward shot across Anthony Page in the Blues goal to make it 2-2.

But Grays were in no mood to let the crowd down on this festival day. With time running out, Sartorius jinked around out wide right and created space to deliver one of the crosses of the season that was met firmly by the head of sub Jack Wilson, for his first goal in a Blue shirt and one that sent the home fans happy for the summer.

So another season draws to a close. One that certainly has not panned out as most Blues fans had hoped all those months ago in the long hot summer days of August 2023. But manager, Darren Manning is building for the future and hard work lays ahead during the close season to assemble a squad capable of pushing for honours next season.

Final score: Grays Athletic 3 v 2 Ipswich Wanderers

Grays Ath: Page, Clarke, Skarna, Milner, Finneran (Wilson, 77), Humphrey, Perry, Crook (Sandhu-Nelson, 84), Stimson, Sartorius, Gordon

Subs not used: Hatwell, Berri, Carlos