Tilbury 3, Newmarket Town 0

DOCKERS kept their part of the deal, keeping faint hopes of an Isthmian North play-off place alive but a goal in the tenth minute of added time by fifth-placed Brightlingsea Regent against Waltham Abbey earned them a votal point leaving the gap between themselves and Tilbury at five points – with both having two matches left.

Tilbury play the first of those when they make the shortest of all possible trips when Grays play host in Monday's 'El Chavico' derby at the EMR Stadium, while Regent, who need just a point to thwart Dockers, go to Gorleston.

Saturday's (19 April) match at Chadfields was a vital one for visitors Newmarket, who would have climbed out of the drop zone with a win, so it was vital Tilbury made a decent start.

Nevertheless it took almost half an hour for them to gain command and then a flurry og goals followed.

Dockers broke the deadlock after 26 minutes as Lindell Stewart drove towards the by-line on the left wing before pulling the ball back across the face of goal. Harrison Day was on hand to come flying in and finish from close range to give Tilbury the lead.

Just seven minutes later, Dockers doubled their lead courtesy of a clinical counterattack as Day pounced on a mistake from Ben Robinson, who misjudged the flight of the ball. Day released Alex Hernandez, whose lobbed effort flew over James Young and found the far corner.

The hosts had an opportunity to extend their lead further after some good play down the left hand side allowed space for Macauley Joynes to deliver a cross. Oli Spooner rose above the defence to meet the cross, but his header slammed against the crossbar.

The follow-up was saved, and Lewis Clark fired wide from the resultant corner.

But there was still time before the break for Tilbury to find another goal as Joynes' corner was pushed away by Young, but only as far as Darren Phillips. He headed back across goal and netted the third of the day and his third goal for the club this season.

Following the break, play was halted as the referee was unable to continue due to him picking up an injury. Luckily, Liam Dawson was in the crowd and available to step up to run the line for the remainder of the game.

With 15 minutes left on the clock, the Jockeys came close to closing the deficit through Stan Leech. However, his looping volley attempt was matched by a brilliant save from Tom Middlehurst.

Despite this chance, Tilbury continued to dominate and were once again denied by the woodwork. Kieran Jones collected possession on the left wing before slipping a pass through to Stewart. The winger skipped past the challenge before trying to poke the ball into the near corner, but his effort hit the inside of the post and managed to stay out of the net.

But Dockers were still not content with the scoreline, as in the dying moments, Alfie Fry did excellently to win his 50/50 on the halfway line and play a pass through to Dan Trendall on the right-hand side. His low cross was cut out by the keeper, and Day came steaming into the area to turn in the follow-up, but his strike was incredibly saved by Young and soon afterwards time was called on proceedings.

SQUAD: Middlehurst, Fry (Weston), Joynes, Phillips (Martin), Clark L, Clark J (Terry), Spooner © (Wickens), Jones, Hernandez (Trendall), Day, Stewart. GOALS: Harrison Day, Alex Hernandez, Darren Phillips.