by Paul Lerman

Grays Athletic 2
Wingate & Finchley 1
Ryman One North

A cruel late goal following a refereeing howler gave Grays Athletic all three points over a heartbroken Wingate & Finchley, with the game having been seemingly heading towards a fair score-draw.

The match was exciting with plenty of chances at either end, with the home side dominating before the break, and Wingate reversing the tempo in the second half.

For Grays early on, the lively winger Alex Osborn volleyed from distance but missed the target, whilst at the other end Ahmet Rifat flashed a shot wide from the edge of the area.

Osborn was the creative spark for Grays, and he stole the ball off a defender and shot ferociously towards the near post but Bobby Smith expertly tipped the ball over to keep the scores level.

Midway through the first half Wingate took the lead against the run of play. Murat Karagul beat a man down the left touchline and pulled the ball across into the box, which was cleared into the path of Mark Henry on the edge of the box, who drilled a first-time shot on goal. The high attempt deflected off a stray defender's hand, and would have meant a penalty had it not nestled nicely over the keeper's head into the back of the net.

Grays looked to hit back, and centre-back Duran Reynolds audaciously hit the crossbar with a spectacular shot all the way from the edge of the centre circle.

Wingate's defending was shaky and Simon Thomas equalised on the half hour mark with a firm low shot across goal into the bottom left corner.

Wingate & Finchley slowly began to play their way into the game by keeping the ball on the floor. Josh Cooper took the ball forward and played a one-two on the edge of the area with Rifat to get a clean run on goal. His shot was blocked well by Steve Northwood, and the rebound was hooked wide as it fell back to the falling Cooper.

The second half was dominated by the visitors, and Northwood kept his side in the game with some superb shot-stopping. Substitute Leon Smith was played through inside the area drifting from wide on the left but Northwood charged down the effort well.

A direct ball over the top played Rifat through but again Northwood was not to be denied as the well-struck shot was flicked wide by the outer edge of the keeper's boot.

Mark Henry, having just scored his first goal for the club, nearly doubled his tally when he smashed the crossbar from 20 yards. However it was not to be Wingate's day as Grays stole the points with five minutes remaining despite barely mustering an attack for the previous half an hour.

With Wingate having committed men forward, Grays counter-attacked. A foul on Ahmet Rifat on the halfway line inexplicably went unpunished and Grays broke forwards at a depleted Wingate defence. Right-winger Jason Fontaine found himself in acres of space and calmly chipped the ball past Smith from close range.

Lineup: Smith B, Williams, Wright, O'Brien, Nielsen, Shehu, Cooper, Henry, (McLachlan 85), Karagul (Smith L 46), Rifat, Burrell (Jones 76). Subs: Laird, Weatherstone.