Tilbury 3, Great Wakering Rovers 1

TILBURY advanced to the next round of the Isthmian Velocity League Cup with this win at their Chadfields EMR Stadium on Tuesday, 11 October.

It will be a win that was sweet for Dockers boss John Coventry who briefly managed Rovers last season and guided them to safety from a perilous position only to part compnay after an acrimonious spat with Rovers chairman Dave Patient.

Billy Harris made his return to an otherwise unchanged starting 11 for the Dockers.

Only one point separates the two teams in the league, so the fixture was set up to be an exciting one for all in attendance.

Filled with confidence after their victory and clean sheet against Bury at the weekend, the Dockers started the game on the front foot with a curling effort from Darnell Kithambo which was brilliantly tipped over the bar by an acrobatic save made by Harry Fairs.

It didn't take the home side long to find a way through the Great Wakering defence though, and after just 13 minutes, Alex Clark's corner was a flat one aimed towards the front post where it was met by skipper, Connor Martin. The defender directed his effort goalward before a deflection off Kithambo helped the ball on its way into the net to give Tilbury the lead.

In the 26th minute, a clearance by the Great Wakering defence was met by a powerful Lewis Jaggs header just inside his own half. Jaggs' header caused problems for the opposition's defence and Kithambo was gifted possession and the forward managed to find Clark bursting down the left-hand side. Clark then fantastically drilled a shot into the near side bottom corner to double the hosts' lead.

The away side were collapsing and on the stroke of half time conceded yet again at the hands of David Knight. A beautiful passage of play between Knight and Clark cut open the defence to leave Knight through on goal for him to calmly slot the ball past the goalkeeper to send his side into the break with a comfortable lead.

Tilbury's intensity did not drop off though, and just after half time Knight picked the ball up in a quick counterattack for the Dockers. Knight found Clark arriving at the back post with a perfect low cross, but Clark's effort was met by an amazing reflex save by Fairs. I

n the 88th minute new signing, Charlie Morris, thought he had scored his first goal in Tilbury colours as he finished a chance just inside the box, but he was deemed to be in an offside position and the goal was chalked off.

The visitors would find a consolation, against the run of play, and in the dying moments of the game when Eusebio Da Silva battled for a lose ball and came out on top, and his strike was cleared off the line by Jaggs, but the defender's clearance would only go as far as Callum Boylan, who was waiting on the edge of the box. Boylan emphatically fired his effort into the roof of the net to pull one back for the travelling side.