Aveley let a two goal lead slip but get a vital away point. Thurrock dig in for a vital away point as well. Grays disappoint as they lose 3-1 at Heybridge.
With three of the borough teams hovering over the drop zone, points are vital today. East Thurrock rest but Grays will be determined to take three points from Heybridge.
Redbridge long ball tactics were starting to wear down the Blues defence as mistakes started to creep in. Lee. Edwards and Brown all had shots wide of the mark as Redbridge went looking to level the game. Alex Osborn and Small were having trouble controlling the ball on the hard pitch and their attacks came to nothing as the half ran its course.
Tilbury F.C. are hosting an Evening with Neil Ruddock. The former West Ham, Liverpool, Tottenham and Southampton legend is at Tilbury Football club on the 8th April. Throughout the night there will be disco,hot food included and a collectors auction. Fully licensed bar.
With the prospect of extra time getting closer West Ham won two consecutive corners, the first on the right taken by Jess Barling, a far post corner that was headed away for another corner on the left, this time taken by Joanne Woodgates, again deep and falling for Nina Downham whose shot was cleared by the full back only as far as Joanne Woodgates some 25 yards out wide on the left, Joanne let fly with a terrific shot that flew into the top corner of the net much to the joy of the whole team, supporters and manager.
In the second half, Tilbury searched the lead, however they was caught on a break and resulted in Brown hitting the bar for the visitors. Just seven minutes later, Redbridge had their lead as the ball was given away cheaply in the visitors half Tilbury got punished as Ashby forced the ball towards goal Marrable could only parry into Julian Edwards path who steered the ball home.
East Thurrock took the lead four minutes into the second half when a poor defensive back header exposed keeper Nicky Eyre and as Reiss Gilbey bore down on him and prepared to shot he hit the deck under the challenge of the keeper and Steve Wareham. Referee Andy Parker awarded the penalty, much to the disgust of Sudbury, but Kris Newby put the controversy beyond him and fired home the spot kick,
After suffering three consecutive defeats against fellow strugglers the visit of high flying Woking was not anticipated with any confidence.
But Thurrock dug in and fought hard to try and win a point, the battle got harder when reduced to ten men but a cruel last minute goal robbed them of a deserved point.
Eight games without a win but Thurrock take Woking to the 90th minute at Ship Lane. East Thurrock pull five points clear at the top whilst Grays keep the pressure on the play off places.
For East Thurrock Getting to the top was easy. Now comes the hard part. Sudbury are in the play off shake up and will be keen opponents. With nine games to go, it is all in Covo's mens hands.
Grays started quickly looking to bear down on the away defence, Alex Osborn looked his normal lively self and ran at the away defence and had an early shot blocked by Mark Kirby, who in turn hit a long ball to Leon Osei to run at the Blues defence. He found Joe Stevens but his shot went woefully wide. John Docker picked up the goal kick and released Danny Morgan, who's pass went to Osborn to hit his shot wide. Docker put the ball wide toward Danny Charge and a mis-timed challenge saw Charge stay down. He was immediately subbed by Si Thomas, on ten minutes and the sad sight of Charge taken away on a stretcher didn't look good.
Thurrock staring down the barrels of relegation after five defeats and two losses in the last seven games. With the visit of high flying Woking on Saturday its going to be a worrying few days for the Fleet supporters.
Rocks edged three points clear of their rivals, who have two matches in hand, but he said: “In the end I was pleased to see the way the players reacted. We weren’t at our best, playing with a disjointed and new formation because of injuries but it was a result that shows our strength. In previous seasons we wouldn’t have come back to win the match.”
