On Tuesday Wingate & Finchley made the long trip to Cray Wanderers who's ground is situated at Bromley in Kent, in fact they actually ground share with Bromley. Start was delayed by 15 minutes to 20.00 kick off time to our late arrival due to heavy traffic, journey actually took over 2 and a half hours. Weather conditions were ok, very cold, slight mist in the air. Pitch very playable. This has been a lucky cup for us over the last few years and we were hoping to repeat our feat of reaching the final once again as we did 3 seasons ago. This always had the making of being a good game. Cray Wanderers lying 4th in the Southern Division of our league and on the back of an 18 match unbeaten run, and Wingate & Finchley who though struggling at this present time known to be a team that always rises on the big occasion, and with a semi final place beckoning a lot to play for. The early minutes were cautious by both sides, some fine football being played at both ends without though clear cut chances being created. After 10 minutes though Cray almost took the lead as a cross come shot hit the post before rebounding to safety. Good football continued to be played by both sides but Cray were the first team to create a clear cut chance on 20 minutes, after a fine move ball was crossed low and the Cray No. 9 misses from close range with an empty goal beckoning. Kieran Street went close for Wingate & Finchley on 30 minutes. 3 minutes later Cray took the lead. Ball hit hard across the Wingate & Finchley area and Craig Ellis in attempting to clear had far to good a contact on the ball and the ball powered into the Wingate & Finchley goal. Wingate & Finchley though a goal down begun to take control of the game and a minute before half time after some great ball play by Andy Edmunds, his pass found an attacking Billy Amarteifio, but his shot goes wide. Half Time arrives with Cray 1-0 up, but Wingate & Finchley still well in the match playing some superb football. HALF TIME CRAY WANDERERS 1 WINGATE & FINCHLEY 0 Second half commences with Wingate & Finchley starting the half strongly and within 5 minutes of the restart, Wingate & Finchley were level. A poor back pass by Cray read brilliantly by Dean Nyman who rounded the goalkeeper and placed the ball in the corner of the net for a well deserved equaliser sending both Dean Nyman and the away supporters behind the goal into ecstasy. Wingate & Finchley now took control of the game that was now fast and furious. Gavin King in the Wingate & Finchley goal was almost a spectator for most of the 2nd half, with a large percentage of the game being played in the Cray half of the field. Corner followed corner for Wingate & Finchley but with all this pressure a deserved goal was not forthcoming. In a space of seven 2nd half minutes Wingate & Finchley used all 3 substitutes, in the 75th minute Tashan replaced Chimba Eberendu, and in the 82nd minute a double substitution, Daniel Stanton replaced Craig Ellis and Marc Weatherstone replaced David Allen. The game moved into injury time and a great through ball found Dean Nyman clear and onside but somehow the assistant referee waved his flag for offside. From this free kick the Cray winger was found and his inch perfect cross found Michael Power who as his name would suggest powered a first time volley into the Wingate & Finchley net to give Cray the lead. There was still time though for one more chance for Wingate & Finchley, Tashan creating room for himself in the Cray area but shooting just wide. Final whistle went. Cray may have one this match, but the performance by Wingate & Finchley deserved much more. Performances like this will bring success to our very young team sooner than later. Well done to the squad for providing great entertainment this evening even though the result went against us. FINAL SCORE CRAY WANDERERS 2 WINGATE & FINCHLEY 1 Craig Ellis og 33 mins Dean Nyman 50 mins Michael Power 90 + 2 mins WINGATE & FINCHLEY TEAM 1) GAVIN KING 2) DAVID ALLEN (MARK WEATHERSTONE 82 MINS) 3) KIERAN STREET 4) CRAIG ELLIS (DANIEL STANTON 82 MINS) 5) BILLY AMARTEIFIO 6) AHMET RIFAT 7) DEAN NYMAN 8) DANIEL BERG 9) CHIMBA EBERENDU (TASHAN BRADSHAW-BROWN 75 MINS) 10) JOE O'BRIEN 11) ANDY EDMUNDS SUBSTITUTES 12) MARK WEATHERSTONE 14) AHMADOU SEYE 15) DANIEL STANTON 16) JAMES GERSHFIELD 17) TASHAN BRADSHAW-BROWN