Grays Athletic 2, Witham Town 1

ON a hugely successful community day (Saturday, 30 March), Grays Athletic continued their fine recent form, recording their sixth Isthmian North win in a row against Witham, all but ending their hopes of making the end-of-season playoffs.

In the past few weeks, the Blues have found a resolve to get games over the line, being half a yard quicker and sharper in the tackle. It's a reward for hard work on the training ground and a real sense of togetherness within the relatively small squad.

The first half was pretty much a non-event. Both sides struggled to get the ball down and play on a hard, dry pitch. It took a quarter of an hour before a presentable chance arrive. Alejandro Machado crossed for man-of-the-match, Louie Remi and his shot was fumbled by visitors' keeper, Harry Fairs but no-one from Grays was on hand to take advantage.

Fairs then created a chance for Archie McFadden who chased down a long clearance but he couldn't hit the target. An Elliott Sartorius free-kick then created panic in the Witham penalty area and the ball fell to Machado, whose shot went just wide.

Another Fairs punt downfield then caught the breeze and Danny Sambridge, back-pedalling, had to tip the ball over the bar. And just before the break, another Sartorius dead ball was headed goalwards by Machado but Fairs just managed to palm the ball round the post.

Whatever Grays manager Darren Manning said in the dressing room during the break worked almost immediately. It also has to be said though that Witham were guilty of giving away too many fouls and it became their undoing. In just the third minute of the half, a Louie Remi drove a free kick into the box and Alex Moss's header found the net, for a 1-0 lead.

And it was 2-0 just a few minutes later. This time, Elliott Sartorius took the free kick and after a bout of head tennis, Louie Remi himself was on hand to loop a header over Fairs and into the net.

Having secured the lead, Grays very much looked to close the game out and the defence remained well-marshalled, dealing well with Luke Ige's long throw-in, which seemed to be Witham's main weapon.

Blues were enlivened by Sam Bantick's return to action, off the bench for the final quarter of the game. In the final few minutes, he created three great opportunities to stretch the lead but Fairs was equal to them all.

The only disappointment for Blues was the failure to keep yet another clean sheet, when, with injury time looming, Kamani McFarlane twisted and turned on the edge of the box and found space to shoot past Sambridge for a consolation goal.

But that couldn't dent Blues delight at a hard-fought sixth successive victory, in front of a crowd of 451, with manager Manning seeing the winning run as reward for the hard work on and off the pitch over recent months.

The Community Day was also a great success, with a bumper crowd, great engagement with local organisations and fun for all the family.

Grays' next two challenges are against sides battling for the title and playoff berths, Brightlingsea Regent and Felixstowe & Walton. Both will be testing encounters but Grays will surely go in with confidence.

Grays Athletic: Sambridge, Brampton (65, Dariri), Moss (83, Skarna), Machado, Finneran, Jude, Gordon, Walker, Temple (65, Bantick), Sartorius, Remi. Sub not used : Shamshoum