Report by Rumyana Penzova 

And we’ve done it again: Whitehawk got three points in the bag via a 2-0 win over Cray Valley PM in front of 605 revellers on Saturday’s exciting Non-league Day!

It was an emotional afternoon as we held a short break in the 5th minute when both teams, managements, referees, and fans applauded the memory of Connor Saunders on what would have been his 30th birthday.

Regarding the game, the Millers, our guests, had definitely arrived to play for it all, and they wanted to demonstrate that from early on, pressuring the Hawks.

A cross by Denzel Gayle was blocked by Luca Cocoracchio for a corner in the 13th minute, whilst in the 19th Coombes was denied, again by our number six.

The visitors dominated the ball throughout the first half and had a few more scattered attempts.

The Hawks’ first attempt in the game was deep into the first half, in the 41st minute, when Khris Oti had a chance for a header, which sadly flew right over the crossbar.

And then, right before the end of the half, Charlie Harris gave us the lead as the Enclosed Ground erupted in screams, and Harris ended up in the arms of Oti, who made the assist, and his teammates.

Thus, the Hawks were 1-0 up after a largely uneventful opening half, yet here we were – flying high.

And we continued to do just that in the second half – already looking more alive, fresher – Oti found Alfie Rogers in the penalty area in the 48th minute, but he was denied by Chris Lewington, the Millers’ keeper.

Another chance for Rogers came in the 54th minute when his header missed Cray Valley’s goal by mere centimeters.

Two minutes later, Gayle from the visitors was denied by Luke Glover, our keeper, returning to the starting-11 after a spell on the sidelines.

The Millers were not giving up on this one just yet: they were winning corners and pressuring the Hawks deep into their half yet again, unsuccessfully so far.

Charlie Harris tried his luck with a great free kick towards the end of the second half, low and hard, but Lewington was on the lookout for that one.

And then, just as we were entering the nail-biting injury time THE HAWKS DID IT AGAIN!

Charlie Lambert won the ball, drove at two Cray Valley men, raced on, and slotted it in for our second and final goal of the afternoon; and for those three points as well! The Din went absolutely feral.

After our win today, we have gone up to 3rd place in the league, and with a lot on the table to fight for.

Next, we play East Grinstead Town in our rescheduled fixture from last week, on Tuesday, 28th of March, and then we take on Chatham Town on 1st of April.

We are back home on the 8th of April vs Chichester City.