At first look, this was a miserable afternoon, played on a heavy pitch with little goalmouth action and not much to write home about. Indeed, over ninety minutes, your reporter made fewer notes than at any game for a long time. And it turned into another disappointing defeat for Grays, who stay positioned towards the wrong end of the table. But just a bit of context - for long periods the Blues matched Stanway, a side flying high in the table (albeit, in a poor show), who were very well organised and, for their first season at this level, have taken the division by the scruff of the neck. Their quad has largely been together for some time and they have their own way of playing.

After a bright start, Grays seemed to switch off for ten minutes. The first chance of the afternoon came on seven minutes, when Nat Mardell should have scored from close in, but George Marsh was alert to the chance. And five minutes later, Stanway scored what turned out to be the only goal of the match. This time it was Jamie Bennet who was left free inside the area. Again Marsh was equal to the shot but his push away fell to George Okoyo. From a tight angle he put the ball back into the danger area and somehow it ended up nestled in the far corner of the net. Cross? Shot? I’m not sure, but either way it was 1-0 to the visitors.

As in previous matches, the goal seemed to wake Grays up. On 20 minutes they should have been level. Stanway keeper, Callum Robinson, mishit a clearance that didn’t make the half way line, falling straight to Blues returnee, Charlie Stimson. He fed Toheeb Elegushi who got ahead of the defenders, advancing towards Robinson. All the crowd waited for his shot to ripple the net but it went wide.

Mention must also be made of referee, Gareth Burton, who had a poor half. Late tackles unpunished, a “basketball” of a handball unpunished and inconsistency in applying the laws. We all know refereeing is a thankless task and without officials, we have no game. But we expect better.

Half time : Grays Athletic 0 v 1 Stanway Rovers

The second half became increasingly mired in a midfield battle, which seemed to suit the visitors’ gameplan more. Defensively, they were very well organised, giving the Blues front line very little to feed off. Oscar Shelvey shot wide and Charlie Stimson put a tame shot straight at Robinson.

At the other end, Jamie Bennet got on the end of a long clearance but his shot was blocked for a corner, from which Zack Littlejohn could have extended the lead but his header missed the target. Late on Nat Mardell went for the spectacular but hooked the ball over the bar.

Both managers emptied the bench, looking for the spark that would make the difference but none of the replacements were able to bring anything new to the party.

Deep into injury time, there was an off the ball incident between sub Jack Blower and unknown Stanway defender. Mr Burton either only saw Blower’s involvement or chose only to punish the retaliation but decided to show Blower a red card, to add to Blues’ woes.

Given the form lines, a close defeat to Stanway is not too shabby but it will be the nature of the performance that will disturb Grays fans more. Hopefully, Charlie Stimson can start to provide more presence up front quickly - it’s much needed.

Final score : Grays Athletic 0 v 1 Stanway Rovers

Grays Ath : Marsh, Paxman (86, Nolan-Samuels), Norton, Walker, Moss, J.Clark, Elegushi (64, Ogunrinde), Shelvey (71, Blower), Stimson, Sartorius, Hepburn (74, Gordon)

Sub not used : L.Clark