East Thurrock Community FC 0, AS London 3

INJURY-hit East Thurrock found their frailties exposed by the hard-working visitors to Rookery Hill on Saturday (7 November) and they have dropped out of the Thurlow Nunn Eastern Counties South Division play-off zone because of a convincing defeat.

It proved to be a third successive loss for the Rocks – a sharp contrast to the six-match winning spree that preceded it.

The hosts were boosted by the return of influential Tommy Barnacle but he was unable to lift his side to overcome a team that showed excellent defensive resilience and an eye for goal when chances came their way.

The match was goalless going into the second half but Louis Maffia broke the deadlock on 55 minutes with a superb low free-kick before producing a stunning left-footed strike from over 25 yards for his second with ten minutes remaining.

Benjamin Ghanei then made his debut for the visitors from the bench and marked the occasion perfectly with a third goal in added time.

Rocks will look to regroup back on home turf next weekend when they host May & Baker.