March Macron awards announced

Grays won all their eight league games during March, two of them, at Redbridge and Wroxham, by a lone goal in added time. In between those two narrow successes they scored four times in three successive games.

They have chalked up 13 successive wins in total and have rocketed to the top of table. They trailed Maldon & Tiptree by 15 points at Christmas but now lead them by six, with a game in hand. So Grays boss Hakan Hayrettin is a clear winner of the Macron Manager of the Month award in the division.

The Ryman Premier award goes to East Thurrock United manager John Coventry. His side were unbeaten during the month, winning four games and drawing two, to give themselves an outside chance of reaching the play-offs.

A 4-0 victory over Carshalton Athletic was their best result but they probably took more pleasure from beating derby rivals Canvey Island 2-0 on Good Friday.

Another unbeaten team in March were Hythe Town, who won four and drew two of their six Ryman South games. Their success was based on a strong defence: Hythe enjoyed four successive 1-0 victories, three of them with goals scored by Brendon Cass, and then drew 0-0 with Herne Bay, finishing the month with a 2-2 draw against Faversham Town.

Hythe finished the month in fourth place and the award for the division goes to their manager Scott Porter.
The Macron Performance of the Month awards, given for a single exceptional result, have also been announced.

The Ryman Premier prize goes to Cray Wanderers. They had won only one of their last 14 games when they travelled to play-off contenders Metropolitan Police on Saturday March 9, but upset the odds with a 4-2 victory.

There were several worthy contenders for the award in Ryman North but the winners are Waltham Forest who, also on March 9 when they were 18th in the table, beat leaders Maldon & Tiptree 2-0 at Cricklefield.

Three Bridges take the Macron award in Ryman South for their 3-0 win at Eastbourne Town on Easter Saturday. The judges also took into account the fact that it was their third successive win and, although they were still at the foot of the table afterwards, they had given themselves a real chance of escaping relegation, a fate to which they had looked doomed.

Indeed, another win on Easter Monday was to lift them off the bottom.