CAREY IS SPOT-ON AS CRAY HANG ON
CRAY boss Tony Russell lauded his team’s resilience after they ground out a win against playoff rivals Horsham, despite being a man down for 77 minutes. Ben Mundele saw yellow twice in the opening ten minutes but scored the first two of three goals in five manic first-half minutes. And despite relentless second-half pressure Horsham could not draw level, even missing a late penalty. Russell believes Cray will be dangerous in the final months of the season. He told The NLP: “We are unbeaten this year and the momentum and belief is gathering. “It was an un-Cray like performance. We like to play and the red card changed that. But I thought we were quite comfortable.” The first chance arrived on two minutes, Horsham’s Lee Harding sending a weak strike into the gloves of Wands keeper Lewis Carey. The visitors got a significant boost on 13 minutes when Mundele, who had already been booked, received his marching orders for bringing down a marauding Rob O’Toole. But the Wands were not to be deterred. And after Joe Taylor’s strike was ruled out for offside, they led on 24 minutes. O’Toole was adjudged to have handled a low free-kick into the penalty area and Taylor made no mistake from the spot. Cray were buoyant and their second goal three minutes later was simple but superb in its execution. Taylor flicked the ball into the path of Rhys Murrell-Williamson down the right and the winger cut inside before lashing a fierce left-footed shot across keeper George Bentley into the top corner. But 60 seconds later. Charlie Allen failed to shepherd the ball out of play, leaving Harding with a simple tap-in from five yards. Five minutes after the break, the Hornets struck the frame of the goal following some confusion from a corner. Harding blazed wide on the hour but, Carey remained largely untested until sub Tauren Roberts forced him to tip a long-range effort over. And, after a flurry of corners, Horsham were to get their chance. With nine minutes to go, Karl Dent tripped former Cray man Lea Dawson but Harry Mills’ low penalty was excellently tipped wide by Carey. And their chance was gone.