By Dominic Brock
TILBURY football club’s reliable league performances have meant that the Dockers are still within touch of a playoff position. The team have seen some crucial wins of late, beating the new stars of the league Norwich United 2-1 and then moving on to beat Witham Town three days later with also the same final score.
It’s not been all plain sailing though as not everything went to plan in their game against Haringey Borough. The team went 2-0 down early, and although the Tilbury team have become rather famous for their comebacks this season, the team couldn’t go all the way and ended the match with a 3-2 loss. An unfortunate missed penalty may have been the cause, but there are many aspects in a game of football, so the players shouldn’t dwell on the result too much.
The team now sit seventh in the league, still only three points away from a playoff spot and with a game in hand over teams like Aveley, Phoenix Sports and Bury Town. With a few more solid victories to boost the club’s goal difference, the team could even be fighting for the title, as the top four teams all have the same amount of points and are currently separated by goal difference. Manager Gary Henty has mainly been setting realistic targets for the club, but even if it is early on in the season, the team and fans could be looking at a very successful season in the making.
Tilbury’s most recent match wasn’t a league face off though. The BBC Essex Senior Cup third round saw Tilbury take on the Essex Senior division side Stansted. Whether it was due to their loss in the previous match or because of it being a cup match, but Tilbury was not as dominant as expected. Tilbury taking cup matches down to penalties has not been a rarity this season and it happened yet again in this match as the game ended all square at 2-2. This time it wasn’t missed penalties the Dockers fans were talking about afterwards as the team ended the penalty shootout with a 5-3 win.
The team will be hoping to have a more solid performance in their next game as they return to league action with a match against league rivals AFC Hornchurch. With Hornchurch only one position behind them in the league, Gary Henty and his team will be hoping for a victory to maintain their good league position.
