The dressing room if full of confidence and smiling faces, says Cray Wanderers boss Ian Jenkins

CRAY WANDERERS boss Ian Jenkins says losing influential club captain Mark Willy though injury is a massive blow, writes Stephen McCartney.


The central defender dislocated his collarbone during the 2-0 home win over Bury Town last Saturday and has been ruled out for six-weeks.

“Massive blow for the club, not just his presence on the pitch but he’s presence off it,” said Jenkins.

“Mark’s our club captain, our skipper, he has been for a few years so I’m really disappointed. 

“But I spoke to him on Saturday and he sounded really upbeat and positive – he could be back within five or six weeks so that’s good.”

Twenty-four hours later, Cray Wanderers booked their place in the quarter-finals of the London Senior Cup (Sponsored by Coventry Scaffolding) with a 2-1 win over landlords Bromley.

The Wands fell behind to Joe Dolan’s first goal of the season, powering home a close range header from a corner in the first half, but Michael Power converted an equaliser after Lewis Perkins’ left-footed volley from 45-yards bounced down off the crossbar, before Perkins’ bullet header claimed Jenkins’ men the local bragging rights and a home tie against crisis-club Croydon Athletic in the last eight.

The Wands travel to Wingate & Finchley on Saturday, a side that boast one of the quickest strikers seen this season in Leon Smith, who is contracted to the north London outfit.

Cray Wanderers are now in seventh place in the Ryman Premier League table with 34 points from 20 games, while Wingate & Finchley sit in fourteenth with 23 from seventeen outings.

Jenkins says he is looking forward to the trip to Summers Lane.

He said: “I’m looking forward to the Wingate game. I haven’t been there for a few years’.  They’ve got a nice surface over there, which will suit out football.

“We’re buzzing.  The club’s buzzing.  A lot goes on in that dressing room that you wouldn’t believe, some of the stuff people say.  They’re saying ‘what a club, it’s different class’.

“We’re confident every game we play, no matter who we play.”

Jenkins, assistant manager Joe Francis and coach Paul Blade, have installed a brilliant team spirit since day one.

And Jenkins says everyone has brought into that team ethos.

He said: “We’ve brought the right people in.  Blado and Gary Abbott, Grant Hall, all these people bringing their own football knowledge but also the right people in your dressing room.

“They know how to have a laugh, they know how to have a joke but they know when to draw the line and go ‘right we’re serious here today boys, we have to win today’.

“That dressing room is full of confidence and full of smiling faces, which is what it’s all about.”

Next year is a really big year for the club.  Jenkins wants to claim promotion into the Blue Square Bet (Conference) South for the very first time in the club’s illustrious history and Jenkins wants Bromley council to give the club the go-ahead to start work on their new stadium at Sandy Lane, which has an expected opening date in 2014.

“We’re hoping to go up, that’s why you do your training in pre-season, we want to get promoted and that’s what we’re in it for,” said Jenkins.

“We’re in a good place at the minute, after a couple of bad weeks’, a few weeks ago we had discipline issues.  People made more of that then we were in the dressing room.  We dealt with that and we’ve come through the other side and fair play to us, I think.”

Jenkins, who first joined the club as a player back in 1993, added:  “Hopefully we’ll get the go-ahead for the new ground.  Gary (Hillman, the chairman) has been trying really hard for that.  He’s worked hard this week on it and let’s hope it goes ahead.  Once that’s up and running, who knows.

“That’s what I’m here for.  I love the club.  It’s different class.  I want to be around when it goes higher and Gary’s got ambitions for us to go to League football so I want to be part of it.

“I don’t want to do all this hard work, me, Joe and Blado, and I’m not involved.  That would kill me, I think.”

Visit Cray Wanderers’ website: www.craywands.co.uk  

Wingate & Finchley  v  Cray Wanderers
Ryman Premier League
Saturday 17^th December 2011
Kick Off 3:00pm
at The Harry Abrahams Stadium, Summers Lane, Finchley, London N12 0PD