Tilbury 1, Cambridge City 1

TILBURY'S Isthmian North clash with city survived an early morning inspection, but the hard work that saw the match be playable wasn't rewarded with a win – though Dockers remain inside the division's promotion play-off zone.

Following last weekend's defeat to Concord Rangers managers Marc Harrison and Liam Wallace made a couple of changes to the starting 11 with Dan Trendall, Connor Martin and Jack McQueen replacing Alfie Fry, Macauley Joynes and Jamie Reynolds.

On a difficult surface, neither side were able to craft any promising attacks until the 32nd minute when the ball broke to Dan Trendall on the right-hand side. Unfortunately, his cross was blocked and James Philp claimed comfortably.

Just four minutes later, Alex Warman found space inside the Tilbury area for a shot, but his strike was denied by a brilliant intervention from Cameron Brodie.

Following the break, The Lilywhites began to threaten and almost took the lead when a looping cross almost caught George Marsh off guard, but he managed to get a hand on the effort and push the ball onto the post.

This pressure continued as a George Smith latched onto a loose ball and bared down on goal with defenders chasing him.

Fortunately for the hosts, his effort was straight at Marsh.

But the pressure finally broke the Tilbury resistance as a recycled ball following a corner was met by a George Smith flick over the keeper. Despite his best efforts, George Marsh was unable to claw the ball back before it crossed the line and gave Cambridge City the lead.

With 10 minutes remaining, Dockers found the equaliser with their first attempt on target when Sam Bantick's deep corner was met by Lewis Clark who headed the ball back across goal. Alex Hernandez was waiting inside the 6-yard box to get the final touch and beat the keeper from close range.

The dying moments were filled with relentless Tilbury pressure and a winner was almost found as Jordan Clark's strike from the edge of the area was somehow cleared off the line. Kieran Jones also saw two strikes deflected that were well saved by Philp to keep the game level and force both sides to settle for a point.

Dockers are back in action on Tuesday (4 February) when they host Brentwood Town.