Gorleston 2, Tilbury 0

SATURDAY'S defeat at Wellesley Recreation Ground was probably the death knell for Tilbury's already slim hopes of making the Isthmian North play-offs.

It's not yet an impossibility that Dockers might scrape into the top five but they are eight points behind fifth-placed Waltham Abbey with just five matches to play.

Tilbury made just one change to the team that beat Wroxham, as Dan Trendall started in place of the injured Jack Hayes against side that were unbeaten in 15 matches. The hosts also made one change to their line, up from the previous week's impressive draw at Felixstowe, with Jake Reed returning in place of Kieran Higgs, who dropped to the bench.

A fairly quiet first half saw just three chances which all came in favour of Dockers. The first was inside 20 minutes when Alex Hernandez's whipped free kick forced a decent save from Antoni Bort.

Tilbury came close again when Jamie Reynolds skipped past a challenge on the left-hand side and drove towards the by-line. Unfortunately, his cut-back was unable to find a teammate and Gorleston cleared.

With five minutes left of the half, Oli Spooner launched a long throw-in towards the area. The ball landed at the feet of Trendall, but his half-volleyed attempt was blocked and put out for a corner. The resultant set-piece was deep to Lewis Clark who couldn't direct his header goalward.

The visitors continued to apply pressure to the Gorleston defence as they worked the ball up to Harrison Day in the final third. Day's first touch was perfect to spin around his marker before he released Hernandez. However, the striker was quickly closed down by Bort and the keeper got a hand to the shot, denying an opener.

With 20 minutes left on the clock, Reynolds once again found joy on the left wing, dancing past the full-back and advancing into the area. This time his cutback was towards Trendall who intelligently let the ball run on to Hernandez, but the eventual strike was fired wide of the target.

Dockers began to target Lewis Johnson on the right-hand side of Gorleston's defence as this time, Trendall burst past the defender with ease before he lifted a brilliant cross to the edge of the six-yard box. Day was on the end of it, but he was unable to get over the ball and his header flew over the crossbar.

Tilbury's dominance continued as they crafted a chance down the right flank where Oli Spooner was given space to clip the ball towards the back post, where Trendall was waiting. Trendall took a touch and drilled a shot that was heading for the bottom right corner before a vital touch from a defender which sent his effort around the post.

But all this pressure led to nothing as Dockers were left regretting their missed opportunities as the hosts took the lead with four minutes left on the clock.

Tilbury had a warning four minutes earlier when Gorleston had their first shot on target when Joe Marsden curled one in, left footed, from the right flank but was denied by a flying save from visiting keeper Thomas Middlehurst.

But the keeper could do nothing when the opener cane in the 86th minute. Joe Jefford rose above everybody in the area to head home what seemed to be his side's first attempt on goal. Searching for an equaliser, Tilbury committed bodies forward which allowed Gorleston to break once again, and Ryan Curtis exploited space through the middle of the pitch where he ran through and doubled the Greens' lead in added time.

Dockers, who can still record their highest finish in the division for 13 seasons, are back in action on Saturday, 5 April when they welcome Sporting Bengal to Chadfields. Then they face a daunting trip to league leaders and title chasers Brentwood on Friday, 11 April.

SQUAD: Middlehurst, Fry (Stewart), Trendall (Joynes), Martin, Clark L, Clark J, Reynolds, Spooner, Jones (Phillips), Day, Hernandez.