Tilbury 1, Harwich & Parkeston 0

DOCKERS earned a place in the last eight of the BBC Essex Senior Cup with Tuesday's (18 November) single goal victory at Chadfields.

Dockers' side featured two U18 EJA players, with Jake Weston among the substitutes and Dan East leading the line.

East was prominent when Tilbury went close to opening the scoring when he beat the visitors' offside trap to latch onto a ball down the right-hand side. The youngster carried the ball into the penalty area before firing in a low effort towards Alex Balisani. Balisani connected with a backheel flick, but his attempt rolled wide of the target.

Soon after, Tilbury would take the lead on 20 minutes when Kieran Jones was slotted through the centre of the Harwich back line. Jones beat Brad Cook to the ball and poked it past the keeper to open the scoring.

The hosts thought they had doubled their lead when Jamie Reynolds brilliantly found Balisani in the area with a lofted pass. Balisani brought the ball down and chopped past the defender onto his left foot. The strike was low and past Cook, but Oakley McNair somehow got back for The Shrimpers to clear it off the line.

Tilbury continued to control the game after the break and came close once again after some tidy link-up play between East and Reynolds, with the latter releasing Jones over the top of the Shrimpers' back line. Jones played a square pass across to Balisani, but the forward's effort was poked off target.

Dockers looked to put the visitors to bed in the dying moments as Jones' slotted pass found East making a run in behind. However, Cook was out quick to make the save.

Dockers are back in action on Saturday, 22 November, when they travel to Witham Town in Isthmian League action.

SQUAD: Wheatley, Fry, Winn (Forbes), Martin (Weston), Reeve, Spooner © (Carter), Brocklebank, Reynolds, Jones, Balisani, East. SUBS UNUSED: Hayes. 

UPDATE: Dockers have been drawn to play Billericay away in the last eight. The tie is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, 9 December