PITCHING-IN ISTHMIAN LEAGUE SOUTH EAST DIVISION
SHEPPEY UNITED 2 CRAY VALLEY (PM) 1 - SAT 31 OCT 2026 - ATT 312
Goals: SU - Williams 37, Gordon 80
CV - Dickson 55
Sent Off - Ekpiteta (Cray Valley) 21

Cray Valley (PM) suffered defeat at Holm Park but can be proud of the way their 10 men battled after captain Marvel Ekpiteta was shown a straight red card in the 21st minute in what does seem an incredibly harsh decision, particularly with the benefit of having now seen the incident again on the Veo camera. The situation was further confused when after a lengthy discussion with his assistant, the referee first brandished a red card to the bemused and clearly astonished Aziz Sankoh before the red card was eventually directed at Ekpiteta. The club have confirmed their intention to appeal the decision.

The hosts took the lead in the 37th minute after Marc-Anthony Okoye lost possession on the edge of his penalty area, Oghosa Williams the goalscorer. The second half saw Valley despite the numerical disadvantage press forward in search of an equaliser. This came on 55 minutes, an excellent passing move involving Ade Shokunbi along with Denzel Gayle and Freddie Parker who played a one two and Gayle's pass found Chris Dickson on the edge of the box and his curled shot found the top right hand corner of the net.

Shortly after Valley had a glorious chance to take the lead, a long clearance from his own penalty area by Gayle, was headed clear of the covering defender by Dickson who raced through on goal only to see the Ites keeper Harley Earle make a good save. Chances at both ends followed Jack Kirby forcing Earle to make another save and Valley keeper Harrison Chamberlain made an excellent one handed save low down immediately after from the breakaway.

The decisive and winning goal for the ties came in the 80th minute, a cross into the box was directed home by substitute Shaquille Gordon who had a short spell at Valley earlier in the season. The final ten minutes or so saw Chamberlain make several fine saves and along with timely blocks from defenders Dan Vaughan and Lewis Allan that kept Valley in the game right up until the final whistle.

The defeat does now leave Valley in the bottom four and they will feel somewhat aggrieved at the sending off decision which made things a lot harder coming so early in the game.

Ites:

Millers: Chamberlain, Vaughan, Ekpiteta (c), Okoye, Sankoh (Cain 84), Gayle, Whitby (Allan 69), Shokunbi, Kirby, Parker (Hassan 79), Dickson, Subs not used: Leahy, Brooke

Referee: Kieran Cox
Assistants: William Rough and Alan Widnall

Post Match Interview: Kevin Lisbie
https://www.crayvalleypmfc.com/videos/kevin-lisbie-postmatch-interview--sheppey-united-vs-cray-valley-pm-311026-222494.html