Ryman Div One North
Witham Town 2 v 1 Tilbury
Report by Anthony Mercer
Tilbury’s poor recent run continued with a defeat at in form Witham Town. On a bright afternoon, which was nonetheless windy, plus having dry pitch meanth that both sides had difficulty keeping possession of the ball. Tilbury gave debuts to Arinse Uade and Michael Salako.
In the opening 30 minutes, it was a lacklustre affair, with no team having any kind of shot at goal. The home sides’ Nathan Korenteng saw his weak shot easily saved by Clarke Bogard. The opening goal fell six minutes before the break when Ryan Charles from 20 yards cut inside on his left foot and fired a shot with the same foot into the corner of the net. Tilbury replied within two minutes when Emiel Aiken was unleashed on a run in the box, only to be upended and Tony Martin saw his penalty slotted home.
The second half was a more enjoyable affair with Scott Kemp causing a number of problems for the Tilbury defence. On 50 minutes he hit just over the top before hitting wide after a mistake in the Tilbury defence. On the hour, Clarke Bogard made an outstanding save from Kemp, when it looked to be a certain goal, scooping out the effort, off the line.
With 20 minutes remaining Max Bradford from outside the box saw his low effort find its way into the net, sneaking past Bogard.
Tilbury pushed for an equaliser, but struggled to break down the Witham defence.
Tilbury sit in 15th place in the league with five games to go. The Dockers are at home to Romford next Saturday.
Witham Town: Reece Paine, Alex Anderson, Luke Mallet, John Watson, Lance Akins (Pat Ahern 82′), Damien Green, Nathan Koranteng, Max Bradford (Lewis Payne 82′), Ryan Imbert (Thomas Robinson 62′), Ryan Charles, Scott Kemp.
Scorers – Ryan Charles (39′), Max Bradford (70′).
Tilbury: Clarke Bogard, Conor Mead, Arinse Uade, Jake Pooley, Joe Nightingill (Toby Aromolaran 88′), Danny Norton, Emiel Aiken, Jack Carlile, Tony Martin (Michael Salako 70′), Toch Singh (Lewis Francis 75′), Ryan Melaugh.
Scorer – Tony Martin (41′)
