Stanway Rovers 2, Tilbury 0

SATURDAY (18 April) brought a second successive defeat on the road for Dockers, but there were celebrations at The Hawthorns  for Rovers, who confirmed  a play-off spot in their first season in the Isthmian North.

Following a loss on the road to Gorleston last time out Tilbury made two changes to the starting eleven as Lester Ward and Soumen Nandi both started, with Luke Northwood and Ayo Odukoya on the bench.

Rovers got off to a good start and were awarded a penalty after 25 minutes. Ronnie Winn was the man penalised, as Alex Bolovan was brought down in the area. The responsibility fell to Nat Mardell, who made no mistake, firing into the bottom left-hand corner.

Rovers wasted no time in doubling their lead, sending a long ball forward as soon as they won the ball back from Tilbury's kick-off. Bolovan's pass headed for Jamie Bennett, who brought the ball down brilliantly and took the ball into his stride before calmly slotting past the keeper.

10 minutes later, the hosts threatened once again through Bennett. The forward cut inside and tried his luck from distance, forcing a very good save from Billy Lawlor, who tipped the ball over the crossbar with his fingertips.

Stanway continued to dominate the first half, passing through the Tilbury back-line down the right wing before drilling a low cross towards Bennett. 

The home side looked certain to score a third, but Luke Reeve came sliding in to make a crucial block.Tilbury improved in the second half, but struggled to craft any big chances or find a way back into the game. 

The closest the visitors came was through Soumen Nandi, who stole the ball from Joe Debell and skipped past two challenges to advance into the six- yard box. However, there was nobody at the end of his cut-back, and Stanway were able to deal with the danger.

Tilbury: Lawlor, Fry (Odukoya), Ward (Taylor), Reeve, Hayes ©, Elliott (Northwood), Brocklebank (Forbes J), Winn, Nandi, Jones (Toussaint), Forbes T.

Dockers are back in action on Saturday, 25 April when they host Witham Town for the final game of the season.