New Rec side claw back to share spoils (From Thurrock Gazette)

Grays pull back to erarn point after Dicks rocket

11:15am Monday 22nd March 2010 in News

Eastbourne Borough 2, Grays Athletic 2 Relegation-doomed Grays were given a half-time hammering by boss Julian Dicks, the former West Ham full-back, after a poor opening 45 minutes.

The New Rec side were 2-0 down at the break, but it could have been a lot worse.

For Eastbourne, also in danger of going down, missed a fifth-minute penalty when Jamie Taylor shot wide after 18-year-old loanee Luke Rooney, making his debut, was felled in the box.

And a Gary Elphick effort cannoned off the post.

Eastbourne had taken a second-minute lead when Simon Johnson played a ball over the top and Taylor raced in to score from 12 yards.

Rooney volleyed home Eastbourne’s second from Matt Crabb’s floated corner on 28 minutes.

Said Dicks: “We just didn’t start in the first-half. They got a hammering at half-time and I was very pleased with the response in the second-half which I thought we dominated.

“I can’t say I’m pleased with a point but I can be proud of the way they performed after the break.”

Grays certainly responded to Dicks’s rocket and pulled back a goal when Harlee Dean’s long throw into the six-yard box saw former Southend United striker Wayne Gray control the ball and turn to shoot home.

That was after 63 minutes and they were only denied a leveller when home keeper Dabby Knowles brilliantly kept out Tom Harvey’s 30-yard effort.

But Grays grabbed the equaliser they deserved when Eastbourne failed to clear Jamie Guy’s cross from the right and Dean gratefully lashed home at the far post.

Crabb hit the woodwork for the hosts late on, but defeat would have been unjust on a Grays side who now host leaders Stevenage tomorrow night.