GRAYS Athletic were hammered 6-1 by Merstham as their difficult start to the season continued.

Blues found themselves 2-0 down inside 20 minutes, with Marc Okoye and Dan Hector getting on the scoresheet.

Grays were struggling, but three minutes into the second-half they had a goal back as David Fallah finished impressively.

But four goals in 20 second-half minutes ensured the result and left Grays licking their wounds. Dan Bennett, a brace from Xavier Vidal and a strike from former Grays man Alex Addai rounded off a miserable afternoon.

Thurrock won again to continue their climb up the Ryman North standings, with Ronnie Winn’s late goal helping them to a 2-1 win at Haringey Borough.

It didn’t take long for Harry Cook to make his mark, having only joined the club last week. He scored after 12 minutes to put Fleet ahead and that was how it stayed at half-time.

Haringey hit the bar but levelled five minutes after the break through Joshua Willer.

Winn scored the winner with 10 minutes remaining to put Thurrock back in charge and hand Mark Stimson’s team the three points.

Aveley earned a draw with VCD Athletic, with the on-fire Millers unable to break down the struggling Kent side.

It was a slow start to the clash, with few chances for either side.

Abs Seymour was looking lively and sent several efforts off target, although Mitch Hahn was looking dangerous up the other end.

Former Great Wakering Rovers man Kris Newby was kept out by Aveley goalkeeper Lamar Johnson, with Billy Coyne clearing off the line as VCD pressed for a winner.

But it ended goalless.

It was a hugely disappointing afternoon for Tilbury as they went down by a single goal to Romford.

With the Dockers struggling to find the net, it was likely to be a low-scoring match with Romford sitting in the relegation places ahead of kick-off.

In the end, the goal came on 63 minutes, with Ryan Boswell getting it.