After two postponed fixtures for the Blues, they look to resume their season, and hopefully continue the positive momentum, with an away trip to South East London to face Cray Wanderers at Bromley FC's Hayes Lane.
Our Opponents
Last season's playoff semi-finalists Cray Wanderers have had a tricky season this time around, making the worst possible start by losing their opening 5 league fixtures but have since turned this around to lift off the bottom of the table, currently sitting 17th of 22 in the league, 6 points above the relegation zone at the time of writing. After amassing 10 points from their opening 12 matches, they have taken 15 from their next 12 matches, with varied form throughout.
Head To Head
Wingate & Finchley faced off against Cray at the Maurice Rebak Stadium back on 4th November, with the Wands sealing a 3-1 victory over the ten man Blues. Ruben Carvalho scored a trademark free kick for Wingate but goals for Lockyer, Raymond and Cook sealed the victory. Last season, the Blues achieved narrow 1-0 victories at home and away last season. In February, a Ben Siggers free kick was enough to give the Blues all 3 points at the Maurice Rebak Stadium. On our travels earlier in the season, a second half goal from Antonis Vasiliou was enough to seal the victory while Cray went down to 10 men late on in that tie.
Last Time Out
Our last match came a fortnight ago, with an excellent 5-1 win over Whitehawk at home. Ruben Carvalho netted a hat-trick as a frantic second half spell saw the Blues romp home to victory. Subsequently our matches against Bognor and Chatham were postponed.
Cray Wanderers were due to travel to Whitehawk last weekend however this was another fixture which suffered postponement due to a frozen pitch. The Wands have played a competitive fixture since then, however, coming out 3-0 winners against step 5 side Fisher FC in the London Senior Cup, moving into the Quarter Final stage, goals on Wednesday night coming from Oyebola, Evans and Cook.
Prior to this, in their last league fixture the Wands were on the receiving end of a Billericay blitz with the Essex side coming out 6-0 winners thanks to an Alfie Cerulli hat-trick.
Players To Watch
For the Blues, Joseph Boachie was brought into the club last week but unfortunately couldn't make his debut due to last weekend's postponement. The forward, who has NLS experience with Tonbridge Angels, Hungerford Town and Braintree Town, will be looking to make an instant impact this weekend.
Gary Lockyer has been the Wands' main source of goals this season with 9 goals in all competitions, including one at the Maurice Rebak Stadium in November. The Wands also have a number of players with experience at higher levels including midfielders David Ijaha, Anthony Cook and Frankie Raymond who all bring a lot of experience from National League and NLS level.
Photos courtesy of Martin Addison