Goal rush at Kingsmeadow

No-one could have seen the final scoreline coming after 30 futile minutes, and even after Nathan Koranteng broke the deadlock with a deflected shot it was another 12 minutes before Lewis Taylor made it 2-0. Matt Pattison headed a third before the break.

Taylor scored again in the 50th minute but Cray rallied with a goal from Danny Phillips and a Leigh Bremner penalty to pull it back to 4-2 with a quarter of the match to go.

The penalty was the first of four goals in five minutes. Andre McCollin pounced on a bad backpass to score the home side’s fifth and Taylor completed his hat-trick before Chris Saunders netted for Cray, making it 6-3.

Substitute Paul Vines nabbed his first goal since returning to K’s from Cray, Pattison struck again and Koranteng finished what he started with the ninth goal as time ran out.

Cray, who have taken just two points from their last nine games, continued their slide towards the relegation zone while K’s remained in fifth place as the three teams above them all won.

That opened up the title race again, for leaders Whitehawk went down 2-1 at Margate, only their third defeat of the season.

Michael Malcolm continued his prolific form by giving Hawks a tenth-minute lead but the turning-point came soon after the interval when Josh Jones was denied a second by the crossbar.

Margate substitute Alex Rhodes equalised after 69 minutes with only his second league goal of the campaign (pictured by Don Walker) and then grabbed his third four minutes later to win it. The Kent side moved up to sixth place.

Concord retained second place with a 3-0 win at Lewes and closed the gap at the top to nine points, with three games in hand.

Jason Hallett hit a post in the first half and he opened the scoring two minutes after the interval. The Beachboys clinched it with late strikes by Leon Gordon and Danny Spendlove.

Canvey remained behind their neighbours only on goal difference after a 4-2 home victory over bottom club Carshalton, who scored first through Nathaniel Pinney in the eighth minute.

Jay Curran levelled it after 19 minutes and set up the chance for Bradley Woods-Garness to put the islanders ahead eight minutes later. James Hawes added a third in the 36th minute.

Hakeem Adelakun brought the Robins back into it early in the second half but Pinney, their leading scorer, was sent off just after the hour and Woods-Garness wrapped it up with five minutes left, his 16th league goal.

Wealdstone, in fourth place, also collected maximum points with a 2-1 success in a tight contest at Enfield Town, the winner coming from Alex Dyer’s solo effort with 17 minutes left.

Wes Parker had headed home a corner to put Stones ahead in the 50th minute and Town replied nine minutes later when Adam Wallace hit a post and Tyler Campbell slotted in the rebound.

Bognor lost ground in the play-off race when they went down 1-0 at much-improved Hendon, who claimed their sixth win in eight games with a 79th-minute header from Lee Angol.

Met Police moved into contention by beating Bury 3-1 at Imber Court. Lee Newton and Craig Watkins scored in quick succession to make it 2-0 after 21 minutes and Charlie Collins stretched the lead in the 77th minute.

John Sands netted a consolation goal, his 16th in the league, and shares the lead with Woods-Garness in the race for the division’s golden boot.

Thurrock remained in the relegation places after a 1-1 draw at Hastings, who stayed one place and two points ahead of them but have played five games more.

It was the eighth successive draw at the Pilot Field, where Mikel Suarez headed Hastings into the lead from a corner eight minutes before half-time and Jack Paxman curled in the equaliser with 14 minutes left. Matt Turpin could have won it for the visitors at the death but headed over.

Harrow remained close to the danger zone after going down 3-1 at home to Leiston. Frankie Merrifield handled to allow Gareth Heath to put the visitors ahead with a ninth-minute penalty and Patrick Brothers added another 11 minutes after half-time.

Shaun Lucien replied midway through the half and Leiston were clinging on until Heath struck seven minutes from time to clinch only their second away victory.

Wingate picked up a valuable point from a 3-3 draw at Hampton. Spencer Bellotti’s 20-yarder gave the visitors a 16th-minute lead which was wiped out nine minutes later by Ryan Moss.

Charlie Moone put Hampton ahead early in the second half but Wingate quickly hit back when home keeper Rodney Chiweshe came out of his box to head clear and was stranded by Dan Brown’s lob.

Moone struck again in the 76th minute only for the visitors to snatch a point with a farcical goal as a defender’s clearance hit a colleague and rebounded into the net, with Bellotti rushing in to claim a final touch.

East Thurrock battled out a goalless draw at Lowestoft, for whom Chris Henderson hit a post in the latter stages and Curtley Williams was sent off in added time.