Tuesday, 20th August 2019

BetVictor Isthmian League South East

Sittingbourne (1) (Campbell 16) Cray Valley Paper Mills (2) 3 (Edgar 5, Flack 27, Smith 63), Attendance: 166

By Tony Rickson

Sittingbourne: Stefan Lawrence, Lewis West (Festus Lori, 65 min), Abdel N'Daw (Jason Fregene, 79 min), Lewis Chambers (Yellow card), Cory Walters-Wright, Lex Allan (Yellow card), Roman Campbell, Chris Webber, Shaun Brown (Yellow card), Tommie Fagg, Chris Barnard (Enoch Adjei,

62 min). Subs not used: Joshua Oliver, Caleb Roberts.

Cray Valley PM: Andy Walker, Kalvin Morath-Gibbs, Danny Smith, Ashley Sains, Ali Tumkaya (Liam Hickey, 24 min, Yellow card), Denzel Gayle (Kweku Ansah, 44 min), Anthony Edgar, Ryan Flack, Emiliano Hysi (Matthew Attenborough-Warren, 75 min), Emmanuel Oloyede, Josh James. Subs not

used: Tommy Osborne, Max Ovenden.

Referee: Kirsty Dowle; Assistants: Matthew Goldsmith, Gordon Greaves

Photographs by Ken Medwyn

A battling Sittingbourne performance, but sometimes you just have to hold your hands up and admit that the opposition were the better side and fully deserved their win.

Unbelievably, this was Cray Valley Paper Mills’ first ever win at this level of football 100 years on from being founded. But they arrived in the Isthmian League this season with an  impressive track record, winning the tough South East Counties League title and playing at Wembley in the FA Vase final just a few months back.

And if this was their first win at this level, it surely won’t be their last, and they looked like having the all-round quality to sustain another championship chase this season.

Sittingbourne had their moments, twice fighting back well from falling behind in the first half, but the third goal midway through the second half killed it, and Cray were comfortably able to see it out from there.

The Brickies made two changes from the team that drew at Whitstable four days earlier, Shaun Brown making his full debut upfront with Roman Campbell switched to the left-wing, and Stefan Lawrence taking over in goal.

Poor Lawrence, a former youth team player at both Gillingham and Dover, had to pick the ball out of the back of the net as almost his first job, Edgar’s shot from outside the box taking a wicked deflection off the covering defender and looping into the far corner.

Both Campbell and Tommie Fagg had already gone close before Sittingbourne equalised on the quarter-hour, a good build-up down the right ending with Brown’s shot going across goal and Campbell pouncing on it to score near the far post.

For a while there was little to choose between the sides but Cray went back in front when they switched play well from left to right, and Oloyede, who had a magnificent game upfront, turned the defence and crossed for a simple tap-in from close range.

Sittingbourne enjoyed their best period of the game in response, driven on from midfield by energetic captain Chris Webber, and looking dangerous from set pieces, either corners or Lewis Chambers’ mighty long throws.

Lex Allan headed just over from one corner, Campbell got clear on Fagg’s through ball but the keeper diverted his shot for another corner, Chris Barnard and Allan both had headers saved by the keeper under pressure, and great link-up play by Barnard and Lewis West on the right ended with Brown’s shot blocked for yet another corner.

Sittingbourne went close a couple of times in the second half, West shooting over after a great build-up and Brown just failing to get a touch in front of goal from Enoch Adjei’s shot.

But generally, it was Cray’s game, and with some sturdy defending, clinical passing, and hard running all over the pitch, they proved the better side in the second half and settled it when a low right wing cross was neatly steered home first time from the edge of the area by Smith.

So having lost the one point for their valiant draw at Whitstable for inadvertently fielding an unregistered player, Sittingbourne are stuck without a point after their first two matches.

It’s FA Cup time on Saturday, when Uxbridge visit Woodstock, but after that the slog resumes to lift themselves from the wrong end of the league table. It’s going to take hard work, commitment, determination and enthusiasm. Bring it on.

Match Day Programme