Saturday saw us host our annual Armed Forces tribute game to honour those who serve and have served our country. Former servicemen from the Royal British Legion attended the game and the Last Post was played before kick-off.

ROOKS SURVIVE EARLY MILLERS ONSLAUGHT - ENDS IN STALEMENT

Match Report by Steve Chapman for the NLP

The Millers were left to rue their inability to capitalize on a wind-assisted first half, as a late equaliser from substitute Charlie Walker secured a well-earned point for the Rooks at the Artic Stadium.

With debutant Rowan Liburd leading the line, the home side looked threatening from the outset. A flurry of early corners—two of which were expertly delivered by Matt Vigor with one headed onto his own crossbar by Antonio Morgan - set the tone. The breakthrough came in the 12th minute, when from a Fumnaya Shomotun corner Dan Bowry's header came back off the cross bar and Sonny Black pounced on the loose ball in the six-yard box, stabbing home from close range to give the Millers a deserved lead. Valley had chances to extend their lead but went into the break with just the slender one goal lead.

The match proved to be a classic game of two halves. After the break, the visitors began to assert themselves, aided by the windy conditions. The warning signs were evident when Danny Waldren produced a crucial block to deny Kaan Bennett’s goal-bound effort not long after the re-start. Valley though had further chances to double their lead and came close in the 68th minute when Matty Vigo's low drive from outside the box beat the keeper but was cleared off the line by Lewes captain Jamie Watson. Moments later Vigor saw another effort fly just over the top.

In the 73rd minute, Millers captain Barney Williams was penalised for handball on the edge of the area, and Morgan’s resulting free kick narrowly missed the target. Just three minutes later, the Rooks scored the equaliser. Ryan Bernal drove into the box and delivered a precise cut-back to the far post, where the unmarked Walker calmly slotted home to level the score.

Substitute Kenny Aileru almost won it for Valley at the death but his added time well struck effort flew just past the outside of the post.

NLP MAN OF THE MATCH – Dan Bowry (Cray Valley)

SPONSOR "BUCKLEY THE DOG" MAN OF THE MATCH - Sonny Black (Cray Valley)

Millers: Peart-Rowley, Williams (c) (Moore 84), Lema, Bowry, Ekpiteta, Shomotun (Barrington 87), Black, Waldren (Adebiyi 53), Vigor, Ajakaiye (Aileru 70), Liburd (Akanbi 82)
Cautions: Waldren, Williams, Black

Rooks: Rogers, Asiedu, Bernal, Watson (c), Morgan, Muirhead, Franzen-Jones (Walker 63), Bennett (Clark 55), Hampstead, West (maquire-Drew 73), Cheistain-Law, Subs not used: Salaam, Hamouchene
Cautions: Morgan, Watson

Post Match Interview: Cray Valley Assistant Manager Barry Moore
https://www.crayvalleypmfc.com/videos/barry-moore-postmatch-thoughts--cray-valley-pm-11-lewes-11125-214988.html

Additional Match Report courtesy of Preston Willott - a Cray Valley (PM) supporter. .

The Preston Perspective

Stalemated by Rooks !!!

Cray Valley PM 1 - 1 Lewes
The points were shared today at The Artic in an encounter where the scoreline didn't reflect the match, but fans of the Millers will be in far happier mood than of late to have seen a much more cohesive team performance that in truth deserved more than a mere point

After a slightly scrappy and disjointed opening 5 minutes , The Millers started to impose themselves on the game buoyed by the arrival upfront of new signing Rowan Liburd who was using his tall physical presence to good effect

A succession of corners eventually broke the visitors defence as Sonny Black poked home from close range after the ball had come back off the crossbar on the 12th minute.

The men in green continued to ask more of the questions with Rowan Liburd serving as a useful target man and Fumi Shomotun looking particularly lively down the right flank, but credit must go to the Lewes defenders as they were dogged and determined and the score remained 1 - 0 at the half-time break

The second half provided more of the same with Matty Vigor only denied by a goalline clearance by their No. 5 with the 'keeper well beaten. Having gone ahead 12 minutes after the start, parity was restored 12 minutes from the end as the Rooks equalised although they benefitted from a fortuitous deflection

We did think substitute Kenny Aileru was going to nick it for us ...... but his thunderbolt shot went agonisingly wide

2 weeks ago i was relieved to see us get a draw ; today i felt i trifle disappointed with the draw, such was the improvement in our team's performance and we can be confident that we will improve and push on. A very encouraging afternoon

ISMWT

Match Photos: Romana at Inspire Socials
https://www.crayvalleypmfc.com/photos/millers-v-lewes-11125-photos-inspire-socials-1156993.html