PITCHING-IN ISTHMIAN LEAGUE SOUTH EAST DIVISION
AFC CROYDON ATHLETIC 2 CRAY VALLEY (PM) 0 - MON 31 AUG 2026 - ATT 231
Goals: CA - Daniel 2, Williams 79
Sent Off - Tangara 30

The writer was unable to attend today's game which by all accounts saw a disappointing Bank Holiday performance and result from the Millers.

The Rams took an early lead in the 2nd minute, Kadell Daniel the goalscorer. On the half hour mark the Rams goalkeeper Amadou Tangara received a red card for handling outside his area as he made a save from Chris Dickson's one on one. With no keeper on the bench an outfield player substitute Daniel Thompson, who replaced James Taylor, took over in goal.

However the Millers were unable to take advantage of the extra man and failed to really trouble the makeshift keeper. Indeed it was the hosts who found the back of the net adding a second on the break in the 79th minute through Josh Williams to ensure they took all three points.

Rams: Tangara, O'Neill (c), Vintage, Daniel, Paxman, Pierrick, Cundle (Bremang 75), Taylor (Thompson 33), Williams (Marjoram 93), Johnson-Palmer, Wynter, Sub not used: Blackman
Sent Off: Tangara

Millers: Chamberlain, Ekpiteta (c) (Ming 87), Okoye, Smith, Sankoh, Leahy (Shokunbi 62), Turner (Muwonge 69, Agyemang, Whitby, Gordon (Santanna 55), Dickson. Sub not used: Jeffrey
Cautions: Whitby, Okoye

Referee: Huseyin Gocek
Assistants: Daniel Harvey and Ryan Hetherington

Post Match Interview: Cray Valley Assistant Manager Nick Cella
https://www.crayvalleypmfc.com/videos/nick-cella-postmatch-interview--afc-croydon-athletic-vs-cray-valley-pm-31826-220733.html

Additional match report from Cray Valley (PM) supporter Preston Lee-Willott
"The Preston Perspective"
"Croydon's 10 Crush Cray"
AFC Croydon 2 - 0 Cray Valley PM
Isthmian South-East Division

"That was a hard watch..." said a fellow supporter as we headed for the exits at 5 pm yesterday. He wasn't wrong. The cautious optimism after the opening games of the season is fast evaporating amongst supporters and being replaced with anxiousness and concern.

After conceding an early goal ( which I didn't see as was busy applying ketchup to recently acquired burger !!! ) we knew we may be in for a tough test to get back on level terms ; the hosts had been tipped pre-season to be challenging for honours along with Margate and Sittingbourne and it was clear that there were some very talented players on show
However, around the 30 minute mark, the game was turned on it's head when the Croydon 'keeper had a rush of blood to the head and handled outside his area to deny a clear goal scoring chance for the Millers ; fair play to the referee , he didn't bottle it , he stepped up to the plate and showed a red card without any hesitation.

Now the complexion of the game did change in so far as with an outfield player in between the sticks and playing with a man advantage, it was the Millers who were bossing the possession and looking the stronger albeit without testing the stand-in goalkeeper too much
I can't speak for anyone else here, but I was cautiously optimistic that during the half-time break we would tweak things and sharpen up and really start to try pepper the hosts' goal.

We didn't. It's as simple as that. Worse was to come as the hosts broke clear later on during the half and doubled their advantage with a well taken goal. Now don't get me wrong, I've been following football long enough to know that even with a man advantage, nothing is gauranteed in football. Any of us who have followed the game long enough will be well versed with the concept of the "curse of 10 men" , and the result of yesterday's match in itself is not what concerned me in the slightest. Teams with their backs against the wall can always break on a counter and score, as happened yesterday

Had the AFC Croydon 'keeper pulled off 8,9, even 10 great saves to defy the odds, we could have walked away and held our hands up and said "well ........ you get games like that" But in that second half, the stand-in keeper didn't have to pull off a single save. There wasn't a single shot on target, and that has to be an area of serious concern. What was equally concerning was a seeming lack of ability to string passes together and a lack of understanding on postion and movement off the ball.

Of equal concern was that shortly before and after the hosts second goal, they'd carved out 2 other glorious chances and it felt as though we were on the ropes. I heard a fellow supporter air a concern that he could have been fooled at times as to which side was the one down to 10 men. Reluctantly I had to agree with him.

Some people may try to tell me that it was always going to be difficult starting against some of the big spenders in the division , and I'll accept that .... but thus far we haven't won a match in any competition, we're struggling to defend set-pieces and we're struggling to get shots on target. If we aspire to be competitive in this division, we have to be able to go toe-to-toe with these teams and compete.

Let me be candid ; nobody is accusing the players of not trying, there was plenty of huff and puff out there and you could see at the end our players had given their all and were gutted. But as a team, it's not just not clicking yet, and if these issues aren't addressed and changed pretty soon, we run the risk of being concerned with events at the wrong end of the table for a second consecutive season.
If the summer recruitment hasn't worked, we really need to be honest with ourselves. I felt as a club last season we collectively stuck our heads in the sand and just hoped it would come good. We got relegated because we didn't face facts. This is no time to make the same mistake. I know a huge amount of hard work has gone in behind the scenes at our club in the close season to improve things and build a better foundation for the club going forward, so I really hope we can turn things around on the pitch very quickly.