Grays Athletic 1, Basildon United 0

TUESDAY night's Isthmian North clash at Chadfields (25 March) won't last long in the memory, but nevertheless was Blues fifth run in a row that has lifted them to 11^th in the table.

In truth, this was an uninspiring encounter. The first half saw Blues dominating much of the possession but Basildon, with the threat of relegation looming, were fighting for their lives.

Within the first ten minutes, Grays' Shane Temple, Louie Remi and Aron Gordon had all had shots on goal, each one more threatening than the last, but all to no avail. And Sid Walker, after his recent humdinger against Cambridge City, also tried his luck from distance but missed the target.

It took half an hour for any quality football to appear on the pitch - but when it did it was a joy to behold. Walker drove through the midfield and fed the ball to Aron Gordon. He jinked his way closer to goal and crossed to find Alejandro Machado lurking by the penalty spot and he drove the chance clinically into the net for a 1-0 lead.

The crowd thought that Blues would press on from there, but they couldn't find the touch necessary to take advantage of a Basildon defence that has a history of conceding goals.

Temple's header was cleared for a corner and Machado found Louie Remi whose hooked effort found the side netting. Basildon were playing on the break and on one occasion, Nathan Best almost got clear but a fine tackle from Kenedi Dariri ended the attack.

Late in the half, Aron Gordon went on one of his trademark mazy runs but shot wide and then a Remi corner was touched onto the bar by Basildon keeper, George Marsh.

After the break, Blues took a long time to get going, allowing Basildon the chance to take something from the game. Their best chance came from a shot by Joshua Taylor, forcing Danny Sambridge into his only meaningful save of the evening.

As the visitors tired, it was a case of what might, and really should have been, for Grays.

Machado's through ball found Shane Temple but he dithered and ex-Blue Michael Toner intervened to snuff out the chance. And then Aron Gordon could have had a fifteen minute hat-trick but went home empty handed. Firstly, Temple found him with a lovely pass through the defence but he overran the ball, allowing Marsh to take control; and then just a couple of minutes later Gordon was through again one-on-one with Marsh, but the keeper produced a fine save to deny the Grays winger a second time. Then finally, Gordon played a lovely one-two with sub Brett Munyard but his shot came back off the post.

The final chance of the night fell to Munyard himself, but Marsh denied him too.

Special mention must though be made of Elliott Sartorius who ran tirelessly for 90 minutes and proved a thorn in Basildon's side all night. And for Michael Finneran for whom this was a 100th appearance in a Grays shirt and to keeper Danny Sambridge who recently clocked up his 200th outing for Blues.

Hear manager Darren Manning's post match views:-

On Saturday Blues host their annual Community Day, wrapped around the home game against Essex rivals Witham Town, who still have a sniff of the playoffs. A bumper crowd is expected, with plenty of activities to keep everyone interested.

NEXT UP: COMMUNITY FUN DAY

Pitching In Isthmian League North

GRAYS ATHLETIC v Witham Town Football Club

Saturday 29th March

The EMR STADIUM | CHADFIELDS | TILBURY

KICK OFF 3PM - GATES OPEN AT 12:30PM

ADULTS £10 | CONCESSIONS £7 | STUDENTS FREE ENTRY | U16s FREE ENTRY

MILITARY, POLICE NHS & FIRE SERVICE FREE ENTRY

MUMS FREE ENTRY WHEN ACCOMPANIED BY A CHILD

SEASON TICKET HOLDERS AND 250 CLUB MEMBERS: BRING A FRIEND FOR HALF PRICE

Tickets can be purchased in advance via this link:

COMMUNITY DAY ENTRY TICKETS

FULL COMMUNITY FUN DAY DETAILS BELOW:

Grays Athletic Community Day - 29th March against Witham Town - fun starts from 12.30pm, KO 3pm. At Tilbury Football Club

Come and join Thurrock's number one, semi-professional, community football club for a day of fun, football and community spirit!

Free gift for the first 150 kids and first 100 adults through the door!

Free entry to all children aged 16 and under, college & university students, military personnel, and staff from the Police, Fire & Ambulance services! All mum's eligible for half price entry when attending with their children to celebrate Mother's Day!

** Free entry subject to valid University, College or Employment ID being shown **

Meet the manager & players, face painting, kit colouring competition, kids football skills challenge, half-time cross bar challenge, an opportunity to take pens against Super Danny Sambridge at full-time! cake sale, music from DJ Josh, raffle to win a season ticket! Tombola, craft stalls and much more!

Season ticket holders & 250 Club Members - bring a friend for half price!

All club members get 20% off the merchandise stall with production of their membership card!