Grays Athletic 2, Needham Market 3 RYMAN ONE NORTH: On a heavy, sticky pitch, not conducive to good football, both Grays and Needham Market delivered a five goal thriller on Wednesday night, writes Stephen Allen.

Needham Market showed why they are a team who has scored over 50 times this season.

The forward line of Stone, Newson and Parker worked as a force with pace from the first whistle and for 15 minutes looked as if they were going to add to their tally with a hatful of goals.

Whether Julian Dicks' Blues were slightly awe-struck by the table toppers was a question asked by the onslaught of pace and guile set in front of them, but to their credit the Grays defence held firm.

Evans found himself clear on goal and only a superb timed tackle by Worrell stopped his advance, a long throw from Evans was cleared by Demetriou when it looked as if Newson would score.

Solid defending as the ball came into the box kept the Suffolk side at bay. Needham opened the scoring on 15 minutes when a goal kick from Northwood was mis-kicked straight to Evans who ran past Baker and Brad Thomas to slide the ball to Thrower to slot the ball past the unlucky keeper.

The Blues attacked straight from the kick off with a pass to Docker on the right to release Osborn but his shot went over the bar.

A classy move by Grays' Bunce set Si Thomas and Osborn on a run but Osborn’s shot went harmlessly wide.

A run from Docker, again, put Osborn clear but his shot was well saved by Gay in the Needham goal. Grays pressure told in the fortieth minute when Pennant put the ball perfectly for Docker to hit a rocket shot across Gay into the far corner of the net for the Blues to equalize.

Within minutes Osborn was put through by Si Thomas only for his chipped shot to hit the crossbar and go over. Gay kept the Marketeers in the half with a fine save from a Si Thomas shot.

Late in the half an attack from Needham’s Evans, found Parker clear to hit the ball into the Grays goal only to find himself ruled offside.

Both sides went into the break level but with the Blues edging the half for their tenacity and effort.

Athletic were the first into their stride from the restart with the influential Docker putting Demetriou through but his shot went wide.

Continued pressure from Grays saw shots from Osborn and Thomas saved by a disheartened Needham defence.

A pass from Docker put Si Thomas clear on a one-to-one with Gay only for the ball to hold up on the sticky surface and a clearance from Butler saved the moment.

Almost immediately a carbon copy move by Docker put Thomas through again but this time he made no mistake, controlling the ball well and shooting the ball into the corner of the net to give Grays a deserved lead.

Needham Market needed to calm themselves to get back into the game and their midfield worked hard to get hold of the ball and create some pressure of their own, within three minutes they had done just that. From a quickly taken free kick, Barber blasted the ball into the Grays area, and Newson went to ground for the Ref to award a penalty against Brad Thomas. Parker duly stepped up to score to level the match on 58 minutes.

The heavy pitch started to take its toll as the game wore on, both teams making mistakes in midfield and heavy legs struggling to cope with the conditions.

An attack by Grays saw Demetriou, on the left, and as he ran forward the ball was taken off his feet by Boyland. A long pass over the Grays midfield found Parker and Newson clear of the Grays defence to run at the home sides goal. A valiant attempt by Northwood failed to close them down, and Parker hit the ball wide of the keeper for the ball to nestle in the net to give Needham the lead for the second time in the game.

With ten minutes to go a double substitution by Grays saw Fontaine and Aiken come on, for Docker and Worrell, and a switch to 3-4-3 to attack and chase the levelling goal.

Despite lasting attacks by the Blues they could not find the net. Si Thomas shot wide, Osborn shot was blocked by a tiring defence, and a goal mouth melee saw the ball go out for a corner as Grays pushed for the goal.

The final whistle blew to finish a titanic battle between two skillful sides. Three solid performances from their last three games left a Grays side with only four points when it could so easily have been nine, but with belief that the corner may have been turned ready for the future fixtures.

Grays Athletic - Stephen Northwood, Danny Bunce, Junior Baker, Brad Thomas, Eljay Worrell ( Emil Aiken 81), Marvin Samuel,.John Docker (Justin Fontaine 80), Dean Pennant, Stephen Demetriou, Si Thomas, Alex Osborn Needham Market - Danny Gay, Phil Boyland, Kevin Horlock, Brad Barber, Rich Butler, Rhys Barber, James Evans, Craig Parker, Sam Newson, Natham Stone, Danny Thrower