Tilbury 1, Mildenhall Town 0

TILBURY delivered a second successive Isthmian League North victory on Saturday (29 November), raising hope that the Dockers may have turned a corner in their league campaign which has stuttered so far this season.

After the midweek victory at Takeley, Dockers' first for a month and which featured a remarkable comeback, they needed to create momentum.

And, though the winning margin was small and the goal from the penalty spot, they have.

Tilbury made three changes from the win at Takeley with new signing Dion-Curtis Henry between the sticks and Ezra Agyiri and Ronnie Winn started in place of Darren Phillips and the suspended Tobias Braney.

Among the substitutes was Danny East, a player from Tilbury's U18's EJA side.

Dion-Curtis Henry.

Henry has joined Dockers from Welling United, having also previously played for Hornchurch and Billericay Town. The shot-stopper came through at Peterborough United and brings a wealth of experience to the side.

Dockers came close to opening the scoring after just six minutes when Dan Trendall beat the offside trap to run in-behind the defence. His looping effort from distance had keeper Finlay Iron beaten, but the ball didn't dip in time, striking the crossbar. Tyler Forbes was on hand to pick up the scraps before he beat his man and forced a very good save from Iron.

Tilbury began to take control of the game, as Mo Amir released Trendall with a beautiful pass over the Mildenhall back line. Trendall attempted to take the ball around the keeper, but Iron was out quickly to get a strong arm on it and deny Tilbury from taking the lead.

The hosts continued to knock on the door, and on the half-hour mark, Ronnie Winn collected the ball with time on the edge of the area. Winn shifted the ball onto his left foot and drilled a strike towards the near-side bottom corner, but the shot whistled just past the post.

Tilbury mascots, the U10 Bulls.

Tilbury finally took the lead with 15 minutes remaining courtesy of Kieran Jones from the penalty spot. It was Alfie Fry's inviting cross which was cut out by a Mildenhall Town defender's arm, and there was no hesitation from the referee, who pointed to the spot. Jones stepped up and made no mistake, calmly rolling the ball into the corner.

Searching for an equaliser, Town threw bodies forward and caused a melee in the area following a corner. The ball bounced towards Ryan Swift, who spun and struck low, but Henry was down well to make the save and secure a clean sheet and all three points on his debut.

Manager George Christou with Danny East.

The closing stages also saw East come on for his debut.

Emma Gray. Pictures by Paul Bocking (InFocus Photos).

Saturday's match also saw the last appearance of physio Emma Gray, who moves on with thanks from the club for four years' service.

SQUAD: Henry, Konte (Ward), Hayes ©, Reeve, Elliott, Forbes (East), Winn, Amir, Jones, Agyiri (Fry), Trendall. SUBS UNUSED: Phillips, Brocklebank.

Dockers are back in league action on Tuesday,  2 December when they host Stanway Rovers.