On Tuesday evening, Grays Athletic made their first trip to Newmarket Town for over thirty years - and it was well worth the wait, returning back to Essex with the three points and an impressive 4-1 win. The night was though marred by a nasty-looking injury to skipper Michael Finneran, whose reward was 5 hours in A&E to stitch up a wound that could have been much worse.

Grays started the game firmly on the front foot and struck early when after just four minutes, Alejandro Machado made ground down the left wing and the Newmarket defence failed to deal with his ball into the box which found its way to Louie Remi who cut back in and fired a left-footed shot past home keeper, James Young, for a 1-0 lead.

After that however, Newmarket settled into the game much the better. They served notice of their intentions just a few minutes later when Jordan Foster went on a long run and was only stopped just inside the box by a fine block by Kenedi Dariri. And Grays were also challenged by the electric pace of centre forward Jose Santa de la Paz, who was proving a real handful.

Danny Sambridge then pulled off a superb double save - parrying out Ryan Cole’s long-range effort and then somehow keeping out Foster’s follow-up from the edge of the six-yard box. Soon after, he was called into action again to keep out Oscar Dean’s goal-bound shot.

De La Paz then gave Grays another warning when he chased down a long clearance, beating Sambridge to the ball, but again Dariri came to the rescue.

There then followed five minutes of crazy football. Machado went on a searching run and let fly a shot from the edge of the area which was superbly tipped over the bar by keeper, Young. And the resulting corner was met firmly by the head of Michael Finneran who saw the ball cannon off the crossbar. The rebound was picked by de la Paz and he ran the length of the pitch, with no Grays defender able to keep up with him, he slotted his shot calmly passed Sambridge to equalise the score at 1-1. In truth, it was nothing more than the home side deserved.

And just a couple of minutes later Elliott Sartorius floated a free kick into the home box and Finneran was unceremoniously hauled over, with Mr Kelly awarding the penalty. Having previously been successful several times from the spot, Sartorius stepped up but his effort was a relatively poor one and well saved by Young.

At the half-time whistle, we all took a deep breath, with Grays hanging onto the draw but having almost scored three themselves.

Half time : Newmarket Town 1 v 1 Grays Athletic

Manager, Darren Manning, recognised the need for major alterations in his team’s structure, taking off both wide men, Louie Remi and Aron Gordon, bringing on George Craddock, to strengthen the midfield and Reon Smith-Kouassi, to partner Luke Hirst up front. It was also clear that Newmarket had expended a lot of energy in the first half, chasing every ball. Could they maintain the pace ?
The new formation quickly showed its worth with chances created for both Hirst and Machado in the opening five minutes of the half. Craddock’s free kick was then almost headed into his own net by Tom Williams.

Grays were knocking on the door and when the Newmarket defence failed to clear Craddock’s corner, Sid Walker was on hand to bundle the ball over the line from about a yard out, to retake the lead 2-1.

There then followed the nastiest moment of the evening, when Finneran was felled in his own box by a flying Newmarket boot, causing a deep dash to his ankle. A stoppage of several minutes, whilst the Blues captain was treated and stretchered off, allowed Blues time to re-organise. Newmarket tried to take advantage whilst the new formation settled in but again Sambridge was alert to the danger, holding the ball on the goal-line after an almighty scramble following a corner.

But as the game wore on, Blues became increasingly dominant. Upfront, Smith-Kouassi was seeing a lot of the ball. And it was his persistence to keep the ball from going out of play and then teeing up Luke Hirst who finished calmly for a 3-1 lead and effectively putting the game to bed.

And shortly into ten minutes of added time, Sartorius produced the best piece of ball control of the night, twisting and turning in the penalty area before crossing low for Machado to tap home to make it 4-1 and a great night for the Blues.

Newmarket will feel somewhat hard done by with the final score. On their first half showing, they have plenty to build on, to climb away from the lower reaches of the table. But Darren Manning’s Grays Ath are starting to put things together with real purpose and two wins in four days have pulled the Blues well up the league, with a promise of more to come.

Final score : Newmarket Town 1 v 4 Grays Athletic

Grays Ath : Sambridge, Toussaint, Moss, Machado, Finneran (65, Skarna), Dariri, Gordon (46, Craddock), Walker, Hirst (94, Gould), Sartorius, Remi (46, Smith-Kouassi)

Sub not used : Humphrey