Grays Athletic 0, Newmarket Town 3

ON the day Grays Athletic remembered those Blues players who had fallen in the two world wars, the home side were simply not at the races against a determined Newmarket side in Saturday's (8 November) Isthmian North clash.

The visitors played with strength and speed, especially up front where the pairing of Josh Lee and Stanley Leech were a handful all afternoon.

That said, Grays were not helped by a less than distinguished performance by the man in black, Alexander Molloy. All that any team, at any level, asks for is consistency in decision-making. That is not an unreasonable! If a late tackle by a player from one side is worthy of a yellow card, then so is an equally late tackle by a man from the other side. Time and again in the first half, Blues fans were enraged by what they saw as a lack of equal treatment.

Again though, this is not an excuse for a well-below par performance from Blues. And the rot set in from as early as the first minute.

From their own early attack, Grays failed to deal with the long clearance and suddenly, George Marsh had two men in yellow bearing down on him unmarked. Josh Lee passed to leading striker, Stanley Leech - who may well have been offside, but his simple finish stood.

Harry Hope was then rightly booked for a late challenge on Lee, which saw him rolling theatrically over the ground. However, soon after, Jakob Buckle upended Macca Joynes with an identical mistimed tackle that merited not even a talking to by Mr Molloy.

At this point, Lee was running the game. Only a fine late clearance by Kye Jude prevented the Newmarket man from scoring, before he beat Tyler Brampton on the touchline with some clever skill before bring a near post save from Marsh.

Blues then had probably their best chance of the match, Jack Stone set up Michael Bareck just outside the box and he unleashed a shot that just cleared the bar.

But the visitors were not to be denied and this time Louis Jenkins combined with Lee for the latter to finish under the body of the Grays keeper, who should probably have done better.

There was more displeasure for Blues when Oscar Shelvey-Negus went into Mr Molloy's notebook for what appeared to be a proper and clean, but yes strong challenge on Leech. The Newmarket man could though only drive the free kick into the defensive wall. Leech then had the ball in the net again but celebrations were cut short by a clear offside flag.

Grays Athletic and Newmarket joined for a pre-match tribute to the fallen.

Grays nearly got back into the game in comical fashion just before the break, Jack Stone flicked a header backwards into the danger area and Josh Coulson, running back towards his own goal fired his clearing header not that wide of the upright. Blues were finishing the half with their best passage of the game and a lovely passing move found Stone but his effort was deflected for a corner.

The second 45 minutes was less eventful but the balance of play remained unchanged. Leech should have extended the lead early on but from Buckle's cross he missed a straightforward header. There were few real chances at either end, with the game getting stuck in a midfield battle that wasn't very pretty to watch.

Then with around 20 minutes left, Newmarket secured the win. Grays lost the ball in midfield and sub Manny Osei-Owsu went on a mazy run past a number of blue shirts. The ball into the box wasn't dealt with effectively by the home defence, eventually falling to that man Leech who had another simple finish .

Hope and Stone had further half chances for Grays but in truth, it would have been nothing more than a consolation. Kye Jude's late dismissal for a second bookable offence was probably a fair decision in itself but harsh given what had gone on in the first half. Buckle's eventual late yellow card, after being let off earlier in the game, served only to emphasise the point.

But this was a bad day at the office for Blues, although there is the quick chance of turning things round with another home league game, on Wednesday (12 November) against Redbridge.

Grays Ath : Marsh, Brampton, Joynes, Shelvey-Negus, Jude, Turner, Bareck, Hope, Stone, Fitzer (79, Gjonbala), Paxman. Subs not used : Hlukaku, Strugurean, Frempong, Hamilton.