This is more like it as Lee Boylan grabs a hat-trick for Thurrock on debut to help the relegation battle. Great draw for Aveley and Grays keep their fingertips on a play off place.
But the big games at Rookery Hill will be Needham on April 9th followed by the form team in the division, Brentwood on April 16th. Surely, it won't come down to April 25th when East Thurrock are at home to their tenants, Grays Athletic?
THE SLENDER hopes of a play-off berth for Grays Athletic just got a whole lot slimmer as Grays dropped two home points against fellow hopefuls Heybridge.
GRAYS boss Julian Dicks has become the latest name to be linked with managerial vacancy at Newport County reports Wales online. But the County hierarchy insist they will not be pressured into making an appointment, even though caretaker Tim Harris has now been in place since January following the departure of Dean Holdsworth.
If his plan was to shake any complacency out of his team, it worked a treat and they were at Ilford from the off. Even the loss of Huggins after eight minutes when he turned an ankle didn’t dent the flow and his replacement, Neil Richmond, marked his return to the side after a lengthy injury with an imposing performance and two goals.
Millers remain in 20th place; their survival hopes seemed to rest on a run of four home games in nine days but they have now lost the first two and leaders Sutton are next up.
AVELEY’S Ryman Premier survival hopes took a turn for the worse with this home defeat. Maidstone took the lead on 19 minutes when Michael Philips’ quick free kick caught the Aveley defence sleeping and 18-year-old Alex Flisher netted his first senior goal.
Having said that, no-one could realistically argue that East Thurrock didn’t deserve the points. They were the dominant side all afternoon and even though their second goal owed much to a poor decision by ref Adrian Oldershaw, they always appeared to be in control of their destiny.
From the start both teams looked up for a game as the ball moved easily from end to end. Athletic set up the first attack when Tom Harvey released debutant Danny Hearty for his shot to go just wide of the goal. Wingate came straight back when Murat Karagul put a pass through to Gary Burrell for the shot to go wide. The Blues set about putting the away defence to task with a period of sustained pressure where the Wingate forwards looked surplus to requirements.
Thurrock picked up three vital points with second half goals from Jamie Richards and Jake Lee, with St Albans regaining their ten point deduction for breach of rules, perhaps only temporarily, but the effect was to take them above Thurrock and drop the fleet into the relegation zone.
Essex County FA Chief Executive Phil Sammons commented: “Our football workforce has shaped The FA’s National Game Strategy, which resulted in a four-year investment worth £220m across the Country from The FA. Last year, the majority of our stakeholders thought we were doing a good job of promoting and developing the grassroots game in the County.”
Brentwood looked strong and it did seem just a matter of time before they equalised. Brentwood forced a corner in the 30th minute. The ball went into the heart of the area but Blewitt rose high to force the ball into the back of the net.
Thurrock were awarded a free kick mid way in the Havant Half, Reece Harris took the kick, his cross failed to penetrate the area, Havant defence partially cleared only for the ball to be sent back and wide on the right, Kenny Clark collected the ball and his cross shot eluded the keeper at his near post and dropped over the line for a well earned equaliser at the far post.
