Cray Wanderers 1-5 Lewes - Some players must look at themselves in mirror and show some heart - Bird

CRAY WANDERERS  1-5  LEWES
Ryman Premier League
Sunday 23^rd February 2014
Stephen McCartney reports from Hayes Lane

CRAY WANDERERS manager Keith Bird believes he can produce a miracle and pull off the great escape.

The Wands remain rooted to the foot of the Ryman Premier League table with fifteen points (four wins and three draws) from their 31 games and Bird claims his side must throw the form book upside down and win at least ten of their last fifteen games to pull off the great escape, despite being fourteen points adrift of safety.

However, repeats of an embarrassing 5-1 home defeat to thirteenth-placed Lewes will end the club’s five year stay in the division after putting in a woeful performance.

Lewes central defender Ben Austin headed Garry Wilson’s side into the lead before Cray Wanderers capitulated by shipping in four second half goals.

Luke Blewden, 22, who is on loan from Conference South side Tonbridge Angels, headed home a second, before Jack Dixon scored twice in three minutes, before right-back Sam Crabb got in on the act.

Striker Moses Ashikodi, 26, who became the 68^th player to play for Cray Wanderers this season, came off the bench to score a late consolation debut goal for the beleaguered Kent side.

Bird emerged from the home dressing room and put on a brave face following his side’s disastrous performance.

“Just bitterly disappointing really,” he said.

“I didn’t think we were anywhere good enough. The quality wasn’t good enough. I’m dumbfounded really because we played the majority of the game in their half and we kept getting undone with them playing their very direct long ball game.

“We tried to play football and we’re getting punished for it. 

“Once we went 2-0 down because of our goal-difference is so bad there’s nothing to lose. We went three up top and they went on to score three more goals but really it didn’t matter to me whether it was 2-0 or 5-1.

“We had to get something out of that game so at that point at 2-0 down it was caution to the wind and it was either going to be a big scoreline difference in their favour or we were going to get a point out of it.”

Lewes created their first chance inside the opening two minutes when Nathan Crabb whipped in a deep cross from the right and Nick Wheeler headed down and wide of the near post.

Cray Wanderers’ right-winger Tyrone Berry cut in from the right and clipped his left-footed shot into Rikki Banks’ gloves just 117 seconds later.

Lewes were to be denied by a brilliant save from goalkeeper Darren Bechet, 27, who was playing with a calf strain.

Nick Wheeler swung in a corner from the left, which was met by a bullet header from Austin and Bechet dived to his right to push the ball around his post.

But Lewes opened the floodgates in the 18^th minute when Austin scored his fourth of the season.

Wheeler was given time and space to whip in a cross from the left channel, which Bechet failed to cut out and Austin planted his header into the bottom right-hand corner from inside the six-yard box.

The number one slot has been a problem area for Cray Wanderers this season, with Bechet being the seventh goalkeeper of the season.

“Darren did well actually. We’re not having much luck in the goalkeeping department,” admitted Bird.

“Darren’s actually injured and Nick Taylor, who we signed as our number 2 who played well for us on Tuesday (2-2 home draw against Leiston) actually had a bug overnight and he came in today with the intension of him playing and Darren being on the bench but unfortunately Nick was really ill and we had to send him home so it left us with no option but to play Darren.

“The sort of injury he’s got he couldn’t get off the ground very well.  I think their first goal actually should’ve been a free-kick. Their player bundled our goalkeeper over and I can’t believe the goal stood, but I think if Darren was fully fit, Darren would’ve probably got off the ground a bit more dynamically and deflected it.”

When asked about the keeper’s injury, Bird revealed: “It’s a calf strain, but it’s just muscular but it’s one of those niggly things. It’s not a problem long-term. It effects the ability to jump and move quickly.”

Lewes hit the home side on the break and Dixon released Wheeler down the left and Dixon sent his free header harmlessly wide of the left-hand post from 12-yards.

Cray Wanderers put in a flat performance for the whole game, but they squandered a decent chance to claw themselves back into the game in the 32^nd minute.

Steve Smith swung in a left-footed free-kick in from the right, which was cleared and the ball fell to Berry, who slipped the ball through to striker Javlon Campbell, who stroked a left-footed shot on the turn from 18-yards, which flashed just wide of the far post.

A better chance came Cray Wanderers’ way when Helge Orome clipped the ball forward from the heart of defence to release striker Paul Vines down the right and after cutting inside he clipped his shot into Banks’ gloves – completely ignoring an unmarked Campbell at the far post.

 Lewes created their last first half chance in the 41^st minute when Sam Crabb released Nathan Crabb down the right and after cutting inside Jordan Bird, lashed his right-footed shot into Bechet’s gloves, who caught the ball high to his right.

Banks gathered the ball from Vines’ looping header from fifteen-yards, the last action of the first half.

Cray Wanderers created the first chance of the second half when left-back Jordan Bird went on a mazy run over the halfway line to poke the ball through to Alex Stavrinou, who was in an offside position, but Bird bulldozed his way into the penalty area and drilled a left-footed angled drive from 16-yards, which forced Banks to make a low save.

But they squandered an excellent chance to keep their slim survival hopes alive in the 54^th minute.

Smith played the ball out wide to Berry, who whipped in a deep cross towards the far post where an unmarked Vines planted his header across the Lewes keeper from fifteen-yards, the ball dropping agonisingly wide of the foot of the far post.

“I think there were a couple of key moments in the game. I think their first goal shouldn’t have stood (and Vines’ miss).  I think there were the two key moments really.”

Bird added: “We’re not creating enough chances for the strikers. We’ve talked about that today in the changing room.  We’ve got the strikers with the quality, they can score, but we’re just not creating enough chances for them, unfortunately.”

Cray Wanderers were made to pay for that miss, as Lewes doubled their lead to kill the game off in the 65^th minute.

Dixon and Fraser Logan linked up to play the ball out wide to Nathan Crabb, who whipped in a cross from the right for Blewden to get across his marker to glance his header into the bottom far corner from six-yards.

Bird said: “They’re very good at playing direct. We had them watched and we knew exactly what to expect. We knew how to set up against them and we know their game is very much hitting the channels and hitting their forward players. 

“But you’ve got to give them credit. The crosses that they put in are of such good quality and their centre forward and the one that played in the hole, their desire to get across the defender and get on the end of it is admirable so I’ve got to give them credit, even though it’s a very direct style of play, they executed it very well.”

Lewes scored their third with their next shot on goal seven minutes later.

Cray Wanderers’ central midfielder Merrick James-Lewis was penalised by referee Jake Hillier for bringing Dixon down inside the penalty box.

Dixon stepped up and his right-footed penalty nestled inside the bottom left-hand corner, despite Bechet diving the right way.

Cray Wanderers manager Keith Bird was sent off for dissent after the penalty.

He said: “I don’t really want to say any more about the referee. I thought the referee had a terrible game and I don’t want to say any more than that.”

The former Bromley reserve team manager added: “He took the penalty very well.”

The Rooks scored their best goal within three minutes when Dixon scored his fourteenth goal of the season.

Dixon started the sweeping move and the ball came out wide to Wheeler, who played the ball inside to substitute Steve Brinkhurst, then onto Blewden, who laid the ball off to Dixon who stroked his right-footed shot past Bechet from just inside the penalty area.

Bird added: “We basically threw caution to the wind. We went three at the back when we were 2-0 down and three up top so it was always going to be one of these where we’d either get back and get a point or we were going to go down four or five.

“Our goal-difference (which after the game is minus 71) and the fact that we need points our goal-difference wasn’t really a concern. It’s about throwing caution to the wind and we got punished for that.

Former Bromley and Tonbridge Angels’ Scottish midfielder Logan drilled a left-footed angled drive which was beaten away by Bechet’s left hand at his near post.

Dixon cut inside before drilling a left-footed shot from the edge of the box, which sailed just over Bechet’s crossbar.

Lewes completed their scoring in the final six minutes when Sam Crabb played a one-two with Nathan Crabb on the right hand corner of the penalty area before hitting a low right-footed angled drive across Bechet to find the bottom far corner from sixteen-yards, which was the 98^th league goal that the Wands have conceded this season.

Bird said: “I’ll be honest, I didn’t see that one! I was down the tunnel by that stage because the referee asked me to leave the technical area so I didn’t see that one, but I came out and saw our one!”

Cray Wanderers scored their 27^th league goal of the season in the 89^th minute.

James-Lewis clipped a fine diagonal pass out to substitute Ashikodi, who played the ball inside to Vines, who showed desire and strength to bulldoze his way through the Lewes defence before laying the ball off to Ashikodi.

Ashikodi produced the only moment of class by the home side when he turned and cracked a left-footed dipping curler over Banks into the far corner from eighteen-yards.

Cray Wanderers is now Ashikodi’s sixteenth club (including loan spells) and Bird said: “We signed Moses this week. He was with Farnborough but he left them about three weeks ago but he’s actually played professional football. He’s played for quite a few clubs. In fact he made his first team debut for Millwall at the age of fifteen and I think the way he took that goal you can see he’s got a lot of quality.

“For us it was a chance to see what he had and he did hit a fantastic goal so now he gives us a selection problem.”

With a number of players that have played at this level or higher this result is simply unacceptable and the club’s small loyal band of supporters demand a positive reaction when thirteenth-placed Hampton & Richmond Borough visit Hayes Lane on Tuesday night.

Bird said: “We’ve had them watched a couple of times. We have a plan and it’s down to us to execute it and I think there’s points in Tuesday night’s game.

Bird believes his side can collect enough points to beat the drop.

He said: “I think we need to get 45 points maybe even 50 points. It’s certainly between 40-50 points.

“What that basically means is that we’ve got to win, I think, somewhere between 10-12 games of the ones that are remaining, with fifteen games to go, so it’s still there. It’s still in our hands, so therefore we’re still going to give it a very good shot, but it’s obviously getting tougher and tougher with every game that passes but mathematically it’s still doable.

“You have to (believe), mathematically it’s still in our control. If we win 10-12 games we probably will stay up.  That’s clearly, with our record, people would say that’s unachievable but mathematically it’s still possible so we have to believe.”

Bird held a crisis meeting inside the home dressing room after today’s game and wants his players to show some bottle.

“We’ve had a tough discussion in the changing room just now and some of the players really have to look at themselves in the mirror,” said Bird.

“There’s kind of two areas where some of the players are letting themselves down in terms of heart in some of them and with others there’s no shortage of heart but they’re just making the wrong decisions.  The biggest problem is making the wrong decisions on the final ball and that’s killing us.”

The statistics confirm the club will be relegated in the weeks ahead.

“I’m not even looking at statistics anymore,” said Bird.

“At some point we’re going to turn a corner. There will be a tipping point when all off a sudden it just flicks and it all comes together. It’s whether if it happens too late and we have to make sure it happens before it happens too late.”

When asked whether he had a message to the home fans, Bird failed to issue an apology.

“It hurts us as much as it hurts anyone,” he said.  “We’re working incredibly hard what is a part-time club, a semi-pro club, we’re pretty much putting full-time hours in to it to try to turn it around.  We couldn’t work any harder than we are and that’s the message really.  We’re working as hard as we can but I think the resources we’ve got I don’t think anybody could get any more of what we’ve achieved.”
 

Cray Wanderers: Darren Bechet, Ugo Udoji (Moses Ashikodi 68), Jordan Bird, Merrick James-Lewis, Nathan Koo-Boothe, Helge Orome, Tyrone Berry, Alex Stavrinou, Paul Vines, Javlon Campbell, Steve Smith.
Subs: Nathan Simpson, Giannoulis Fakinos, Osa Obamwonyi, Gary Beckett

Goal: Moses Ashikodi 89

Booked: Ugo Udoji 20, Paul Vines 48, Javlon Campbell 74

Sent Off: Keith Bird (manager) 72

Lewes: Rikki Banks, Sam Crabb, Matt Crabb (Steve Brinkhurst 33), Andy Pearson, Ben Austin, Jack Walder, Nick Wheeler (Jack Maloney 76), Jack Dixon, Luke Blewden (Rhys Murrell-Williamson 76), Nathan Crabb, Fraser Logan.
Subs: Ross Treleaven, Jay Lovett

Goals: Ben Austin 18, Luke Blewden 65, Jack Dixon 72 (pen), 75, Sam Crabb 84

Booked: Matt Crabb 20, Jack Walder 60, Jack Maloney 90

Attendance: 317
Referee:  Mr Jake Hillier (New Barnet, Hertfordshire)
Assistants: Mr Oliver Roguez (Isle of Dogs, London E14) & Mr Craig Burton (Rochester)