Grays back on top of league
Grays returned to the top of the league on Saturday after a hard fought victory at Crawley with Dennis Oli once again proving to be the star of the show.
Oli struck two late goals to fire Blues to the league summit after Jamie Slabber had followed up his mid-week hat-trick by cancelling out Simon Wormull’s early free kick.
The visitors were made to work hard for the three points against a Crawley side who belied their lowly league status and could have had the game wrapped up by half-time.
Instead their fifth defeat in seven games sent the Sussex side crashing to the Conference basement and increased pressure on manager Francis Vines.
His assessment of Blues’ performance was characteristically blunt, though a little hard on the basis of 90 minutes in a 46-game season: “Grays were nothing special. They’re no better than anyone else.
”We could have been 4-1 up at halftime but we didn’t take out chances and they took theirs. That was the difference.
”On another day. Maybe we score two or three of those and the game is dead. I thought it as a flattering result for Grays.”
Such an analysis might smack of sour grapes to anyone who did not witness Blues’ fifth league win, but it was easy to understand Vines’ disappointment as the supposed gap between top and bottom was not apparent for most of the afternoon.
If this was not the juggernaut of recent times, Grays were happy enough to take the three points. Scoring three times while some way below your best certainly bodes well, again suggesting another promotion party cannot be ruled out.
Exeter’s shock defeat to Burton Albion brought another smile to the face of Blues boss Mark Stimson but he was less thrilled by his side’s defending in the first half, describing it as “typical Grays!” .
Blues fell behind to Wormull’s brilliant curling free-kick after 12 minutes before Steve Burton, Chris Giles and Jamie Cade squandered gilt-edged opportunities presented by generous defending.
At the other end, Slabber dragged agonisingly wide after rounding goalkeeper Phil Smith. “Are you Canvey in disguise?” asked the home fans of the yellow-shirted visitors, but the former Spurs striker made amends with an equaliser three minutes before half-time.
The impressive Stuart Thurgood got the move going with a first-time volley to John Nutter on halfway before Glenn Poole crossed from the left. Smith dropped the ball under pressure from Oli, allowing Dean Brennan to feed Slabber for a simple finish.
After the break, Nicky Eyre grabbed another Wormull free-kick at the second attempt and the young keeper thwarted Burton at close-range but Grays enjoyed much more possession and Gary Hooper tested Smith with a powerful low drive.
Blues went ahead after 76 minutes when Slabber’s clever pass put Oli behind the defence and the striker gave Smith no chance with a clinical finish.
The former Cambridge United man put the result behind doubt with a last-minute breakaway goal, only a few seconds after Thurgood had cleared Ian Simpemba’s header off the line.
Stimson said: “It was a very difficult game. We always knew Crawley were going to get ball down and play.
”I’m surprised by where they are in the league. I’m sure with the manager they’ve got they will be in the right half of the table come Christmas and looking to push on from there.
”They created three of four decent chances in the first half and scored from a fantastic free-kick which would have graced the Premiership.
”We could have done better defensively. It’s an area we would possibly like to improve on, but Crawley have got two quality strikers. The boy (Daryl) Clare is proven at this level and it’s a challenge for my defenders”.
Report by Matthew James
Thanks to the Thurrock Gazette for the match report
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