Dockers battled well but early goal by league leaders proved decisive
By Mason Hutchinson 28th Sep 2025
Tilbury 0, Felixstowe & Walton 1
AFTER the disappointment of the abandonment of the previous Tuesday's match at Brantham, when Dockers were leading 2-0, Tilbury had the toughest of tasks to bounce back with the visit to Chadfields of league leaders Felixstowe and Walton.
Ultimately the visitors proved too string but Tilbury did turn in an impressive second half showing and struck the woodwork twice.
The match featured Oli Spooner in his 200th outing for the Dockers and management duo Marc Harrison and Liam Wallace made three changes to the starting 11 from Tuesday, with debutant midfielder Tyler Forbes, signed from Witham, and Juwon Akintunde and Alex Balisani entering the squad.
The match got off to the worst possible start for the home side when the Seasiders took the lead inside just five minutes when Toby Stevenson drove down the left wing and into the penalty area. He got past Tyler Forbes before the winger brought him down.
Josh Mayhew stepped up and made no mistake with the subsequent penalty.
Tilbury's best chance of the half came in the 24th minute, when Luke Reeve's early delivery found Akintunde in the middle. However, the header was tame, and Harry Wright made a simple save.
The second half saw The Dockers grow into the game, and they began to take control.
On the hour mark, Tyle Forbes picked the ball up on the right wing before chopping past his man and back onto his left foot. Forbes lined up a strike from the edge of the area and cannoned his strike goalward. Unfortunately, his effort was denied by the crossbar, but the rebound fell to Akintunde, who saw a similar fate with his header also striking the frame of the goal.
The visitors did create another chance of their own soon after, as Josh Mayhew's headed flick on bounced in the path of Ollie Caley-Brown, releasing him one-on-one. Caley-Brown attempted a volleyed effort, but Harry Fairs was out quick to make a brilliant save.
After that the visitors saw out time to take the win, but Tilbury – who slipped into the bottom four with the defeat – will have taken heart from their second half performance and go again on Tuesday (30 September) when they entertain Gorleston (7.45pm).
SQUAD: Fairs, Reeve, Konte (Aderibigbe), Hayes, Martin, Spooner ©, Carter (Jones), Reynolds, Forbes, Akintunde, Balisani (Ward).
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