GRAYS Athletic’s young guns are one game away from a dream FA Cup clash with Chelsea’s £15million under 18s side at Stamford Bridge.

The homeless under 18s Blues side – who were on the brink of folding after Grays were booted out from their Rush Green home by West Ham United over the summer – are due to take on Dartford FC in the second round proper tonight (Thursday).

Grays beat Uxbridge 5-2 last Wednesday to set up this week’s tie with Dartford. Brian Moses, who has made a number of appearances – and scored crucial goals – for the first team, hit four with team captain and club board member Danny Swallow hitting Blues’ fifth goal. Should Blues win at Millfield this evening – where Aveley Football Club have kindly allowed the side to play their home FA Cup matches – the youngsters will travel to London on December 21 to take on Chelsea.

Grays, who are managed by Andy Swallow, are the lowest ranked side left in the competition and the only Step 3 non-league side. Woking, Dartford and Luton – all from the Conference Premier – are the only other non-league sides left in the youth version of the world’s most famous football cup competition.

At the beginning of the season, the Southern Counties League allowed Grays’ under 18s to remain in the league and play all their games as an away side after the club were evicted from Rush Green in Romford, just weeks before the season started.

The side train once a week but have been playing together for a number of years, with several team members attending the South Essex College campus in Grays.

Managed by former pro Adrian Viveash, Chelsea currently sit fifth in the Youth Academy Premier League, having lost just two games all season. Charly Musonda Jr, a Belgian wonderkid signed from Anderlecht last year, and Josimar Quintero, a former Barcelona whizkid, are just two of a host of young players in the Chelsea academy touted to become world beaters. Andy Swallow said: “Getting to play at Stamford Bridge would be like going to the World Cup finals for these boys. It’s a massive achievement.

“We’ve been through six rounds and we shouldn’t have – we’ve done so well to get this far. “We had to travel to Uxbridge at the last minute because the FA had said the game must be played last week and Aveley had called the game off, so five of our first team players couldn’t make it.”

“So we’ve been up against it all along. The game against Dartford will be a cup final.

“They’re full time college boys but we’ve been together a few years and I reckon it will be 50/50.”

To find out how Grays’ young guns fared against Dartford, go to our website: www.thurrockgazette.co.uk