Grays Athletic 1, AFC Sudbury 1

GRAYS player Joe Paxman had a night to remember at Parkside this evening (Wednesday, 10 November), scoring both goals as Grays drew with FA Cup heroes Sudbury in the Isthmian North division.

Grays may well end up ruing a missed opportunity to close the gap on leaders Canvey by more than the one point but they have jumped to second place after a result against another promotion-chasing side, who drew lots of plaudits for their FA Cup first round performance against League side Colchester last Friday, despite eventually going down 4-0.

In tonight's game both sides had chances, though at the end of the evening - despite Sudbury having a second half effort ruled out for offside - Grays may feel the more hard done to, after twice hitting the woodwork.

The visitors from Suffolk were gifted the lead on 35 minutes when Paxman put the ball in his own net as the result of a goalmouth scramble.

However, he redeemed himself with the equaliser on 56 minutes and Grays might well have gone on to win the match, but after stretching the visiting defence in the closing moments sub Freddy Moncur's shot crashed against the crossbar.