Hadley 2, Grays Athletic 1

GRAYS fans left north London shaking their heads in disbelief after dominating much of Saturday's FA Trophy tie but paying a severe penalty for not taking their chances – while the football gods of fate appear to have a downer on luck for the Blues too.

The visitors were weakened with the loss of influential midfielder Alejandro Machado and Alex Moss but they made a determined start.

The game was just three minutes old when George Craddock and Aron Gordon combined beautifully to set up Elliott Sartorius on the edge of the box. But his shot, heading for the top corner of the goal, was quite brilliantly kept out by home keeper, Charlie Taylor.

And moments later, he pulled off another superb save to deny Sid Walker whose header was goalbound. Blues could only stand and admire.

And as is so typical in these situations, Hadley straight away, nicked the ball in midfield, Stefan Powell drove down the right and his cross rebounded off Kenedi Dariri past Danny Sambridge for a barely believable 1-0 lead.

And perhaps even this early, Blues knew it was not to be their day, when just a couple of minutes later, Elliott Sartorius crossed the ball and Luke Massingham sliced his clearance but over the bar for a corner.

The game was now end-to-end and Hadley always looked dangerous in attack. Centre-forward, Isaac Stones was a danger up front throughout the game, with Caoilan McGettigan and Finley Aldridge driving the play forward.

And it got even more exasperating for Blues, when Craddock found Louie Remi with a great crossfield pass. Remi fired from distance but saw his shot come back off the post, with Taylor well beaten. At the other end, Massingham turned provider but Aldridge couldn't find a finish.

Then just before the half hour, Gordon pulled the ball across the six yard box and Louie Remi at the far post somehow managed to sidefoot the ball the wrong side of the post. And then it was Luke Hirst's turn - he brought the ball down expertly inside the box, turned and hit the crossbar. It really just wasn't Blues day at Brickfield Lane.

Nor was the referee doing Grays any favours. A number of overly-robust challenges in the middle of the park by the towering home back line went unpunished, when far less often receives the yellow card. By setting the bar so high, the official made a rod for his own back.

As the half went on, Hadley came more into the game and spurned a series of chances. None more so than a wild game of pinball which saw the visitors' back line block four shots from the home side with some desperate defending.

Like Alfano pulled another shot wide, and George Alfieri failed to take two presentable chances in quick order. Then just before the break, it was only a last ditch challenge by Malaki Toussaint that prevented Alfano getting in again.

The second half was altogether a less harum-scarum affair. Gordon had two early chances before Massingham was only denied at the other end by a fine goal-line clearance by Kenedi Dariri. Hadley were in game-management mode, breaking up and slowing down play as much as possible and using their speed and height to great effect.

The referee then incurred the wrath of the Blues faithful again - Aron Gordon broke through the back line and keeper, Taylor, came out of his area to challenge in a 50/50 duel; for which the referee showed the Blues forward a yellow.

With the clock ticking down Blues were throwing everything forward. Albert Perry, off the bench, was running at the home defence and Bobby Unwin, another sub, ran the wide left channel. But clear chances were much rarer for Blues, as the home side soaked up the pressure. Sartorius' long range attempt five minutes from time was the best the visitors had to show for long periods in the home half.

And then with the clock ticking to 90 minutes, Hadley attacked down the right, crossed the ball and shot over - but then surrounded the referee, appealing for handball. The referee immediately decided in the home team's favour, awarded the penalty and sent Matas Skarna from the field. The Blues defender was bemused and the whole event seemed extremely harsh. Alfano dispatched the spot kick for a 2-0 lead.

But Blues wouldn't give up and two minutes later, Gordon finally bundled the ball into the net for Blues to reduce the deficit to 2-1. But it was too little, too late.

The defeat was hard to take. The performance was one that Blues fans could be proud of, certainly on the first half performance and it was difficult to see how they went in behind. But that is the story of cup football - the margin between success and failure is so fine.

Grays have the chance to bounce back with a good performance in Wednesday's home Isthmian North derby with Concord Rangers at Chadfields (7.45pm).