Grays Athletic 1 Blues 1

Leiston came into this crucial game with Grays Athletic on the back of a fine away win at Enfield last week writes Craig Cooper. Grays have found some form of late and could make a late charge towards the play-offs as there is usually a club that does. There was no Tom Bullard again while Danny Cunningham and Danny Mills were only fit enough to make the bench with John Sands starting the first of his three game suspension. Danny Gay, who missed last week’s game following the arrival of his new son, came back in goal at Alex Rossis’ expense. The weather was good however, Leiston were against the wind in the first half. Grays started the better and were the better side for large parts of the first half. Dumebi Dumaka was a handful all game and the Leiston back four were given a run around for the first forty five minutes. Danny Gay was into action after only five minutes when he dived to his right to save a shot and it looked as though he had tipped the ball over after a long shot from a Grays player shortly after but Referee Paul Yates awarded a goal kick. It wasn’t long however, before the first goal of the afternoon came. From a corner Leiston failed to clear and Dumebi Dumaka smashed the ball into Gay’s top left hand corner via the post from a tight angle. Leiston did have a shout for a penalty when Francis looked as though he was impeded but play was waved on. Mayhew and Winter both had shots but they were easily dealt with by Conor Gough in the home goal. At the other end Carlos had an effort which Gay collected well. Stuart Boardley was booked for a foul which seemed rather harsh as it was his first of the afternoon. It was hard against the wind first half but Leiston dug in to make sure they went in just a goal down.

Leiston came out for the second half and seemed to play with a lot more energy. Leon Ottley-Gooch had a header straight at the keeper early on and Winter had a shot deflected wide for a corner which could have gone into the net. Patrick Brothers, Gareth Heath and Leon Ottley-Gooch were controlling things in midfield and Grays had to defend well from corners and free kicks to hold on to their slender lead. With just over ten minutes of normal time to go Francis went through on the angle but his shot was very well saved by Gough who had looked impressive all afternoon. Merritt was introduced for Winter as the clock started to run down with Leiston chasing a response. Gay made a good save when he palmed away a rare attack from Grays late in the second half. Leiston would have a couple more free kicks in dangerous positions but these were either cleared or too long for someone to latch onto. With a minute of normal time to play Merritt got free down the left hand side and was tripped to the floor. With the ball around five yards outside the left hand eighteen yard box Stuart Boardley sent in a brilliant free kick that went over a back-pedalling Gough and into the far corner of the goal. After the restart both sides tried to push on but both defences held firm however Patrick Brothers did well to get a shot away that was well held by the home keeper. This was the last action of the game as the referee blew for full time when the keeper cleared up field. All in all, a draw was a fair result in a pretty average game of football. Grays had the first half, Leiston the second. It is a result that keeps Leiston 6th, two points off the play-offs with the Blues relishing a chance to play Lowestoft in the Semi-Finals of the Suffolk Premier Cup at Kirkley on Wednesday.

FT – Grays Athletic 1 Blues 1

Blues - Gay, Saker, Boardley, Ottley-Gooch, Jefford, Mitchell, Winter (Merritt 83 mins), Heath, Mayhew, Brothers, Francis. Subs not used - Rossis, Cunningham and Mills.

Goals – Dumaka 13 mins (Grays Athletic, Boardley 89 mins (Leiston)

Man of the Match – Patrick Brothers

Attendance - 157