Grays have the edge but can't capitalise

9:54pm Tuesday 22nd April 2008

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Grays Athletic 1, Salisbury 1

HAD anything been riding on this end of season mid table clash, Grays would no doubt be disappointed at the chances they spurned after a 1-1 draw against Salisbury City in front of 507 supporters at The Rec.

The home side had the perfect start after a neat passing move led to a deep cross from the left flank being met by Danny Kedwell, who firmly placed his header back across goal beyond the stranded Ryan Clarke in the visitor's net after only four minutes.

Although it was a well taken goal, the Salisbury defence will be disappointed at the space allowed to the former Welling frontman.

The game continued at a frenetic pace, with both sides throwing men forward into attack.

Grays played at a high tempo and were able to exploit some space down the flanks, with Marlon Patterson in particular having some success taking on his opposing number.

Both strikers were busy; Jeff Goulding effectively unsettled the Salisbury back line with his aerial presence and Kedwell's willingness to run the channels was paying dividends. They continued to fashion half-chances, with Kedwell and Thurgood both shooting tamely into the keeper's hands from decent positions.

Salisbury continued to threaten on the break with strikers Liam Feeney and Matthew Tubbs enthusiastically chasing long balls in behind of the defence. The Wiltshire outfit also looked to make use of the prodigiously long throws of midfielder Ian Herring and full-back Jonathan Bass, flooding the box for throw-ins in offensive position.

25 minutes into the game it was through such an opportunity that Salisbury were able to draw level. A long throw from Herring was headed behind for a corner.

Feeney whipped in a left-footed cross which centre-back Tim Bond rose to meet, powering a header into the roof of the net. Again, the goal came from a free header, although in this instance Bond's marker seems to have slipped in a crowded penalty area.

The goal, combined with a five minute stoppage for the treatment of Ryan Clarke and Bond after a clash of heads, took the pace out of the game, and both sides seemed to content to get to half-time on level terms.

If the beginning of the first half had been hectic, the second half seemed anything but.

Both sides struggled to assert themselves in the game early on, with a protracted series of long balls being ably dealt with by the respective defences.

Gradually, Grays began to gain the upper hand.

On 58 minutes, Kedwell had a smart effort on the turn which sailed over the crossbar. The introduction of Aaron O'Connor on 63 minutes injected some pace and creativity into the game; his first touch of the ball was to race onto a deep Barry Cogan cross, only to send a looping header into the keeper's waiting arms.

The chances continued to come for Grays.

67 minutes through a deep Thurgood free-kick found its way through the Salisbury back-line, only for Kedwell to poke wide with the goal at his mercy.

Minutes later, Kedwell latched onto a ball over the top and rounded the keeper, only for the extensively bandaged Tim Bond to block his goalbound effort after recovering well from initially missing the header.

Clear cut chances for Salisbury were few and far between; they continued to pack the penalty areas for long throws but Simon Downer and captain Jamie Stuart coped admirably with the aerial threat throughout.

Perhaps Grays' best chance of the night fell to the substitute Neil McCafferty who found himself in space on the penalty spot, after Salisbury again failed to clear their lines effectively, only to see his stabbed effort pushed wide by Clarke after 77 minutes.

The final attempt on goal came two minutes into stoppage time as a 25-yard effort from O'Connor fizzed just wide of Clarke's left hand post.

Grays: Danny Knowles, Cameron Mawer, Simon Downer, Jamie Stuart, Adam Gross, Barry Cogan, Jon Ashton (Neil McCafferty 46), Stuart Thurgood, Marlon Patterson (Aaron O'Connor 66), Danny Kedwell, Jeff Goulding (Scott Taylor 54). Subs not used: Jake Whincup, Andy Sambrook.

Salisbury: Ryan Clarke, Jonathan Bass, Aaron Cook, Timothy Bond, Matthew Robinson, Robert Sinclair, Wayne Turk, Ian Herring (Craig Richards 90), Darrell Clarke (Marvin Brown 81), Matthew Tubbs, Liam Feeney, Subs not used: James Bittner, Nicolas Eastham, Jamie Barron.

Attendance: 507.

Blue Square Premier, up to and inc Tuesday, April 22

		P	W	D	L	F	A	+/-	Pts
C	Aldershot Town	45	31	7	7	81	47	+34	100
2	Torquay United	45	26	8	11	82	55	+27	86
3	Cambridge United	45	24	11	10	66	41	+25	83
4	Exeter City	45	22	16	7	79	54	+25	82
5	Burton Albion	45	23	11	11	75	52	+23	80
6	Stevenage Borough	45	23	7	15	80	54	+26	76
7	Histon	45	20	11	14	74	65	+9	71
8	Forest Green Rovers	45	19	13	13	74	57	+17	70
9	Ebbsfleet United	45	19	12	14	64	58	+6	69
10	Oxford United	45	19	11	15	53	47	+6	68
11	Kidderminster Harriers	45	19	10	16	74	54	+20	67
12	Salisbury City	45	17	14	14	67	60	+7	65
13	Grays Athletic	44	17	13	14	52	46	+6	64
14	York City	45	17	11	17	71	71	0	62
15	Rushden & Diamonds	44	15	13	16	54	51	+3	58
16	Crawley Town (-6)	45	18	9	18	71	66	+5	57
17	Woking	45	11	17	17	50	61	-11	50
18	Weymouth	45	11	12	22	51	71	-20	45
19	Northwich Victoria	45	11	11	23	52	76	-24	44
20	Halifax Town (-10)	45	12	16	17	60	68	-8	42
21	Altrincham	45	9	13	23	54	80	-26	40
22	Farsley Celtic	45	10	9	26	47	83	-36	39
R	Droylsden	45	5	9	31	45	101	-56	24
R	Stafford Rangers	45	4	10	31	40	98	-58	22