Tilbury 4, Sporting Bengal 1

SATURDAY'S (5 April) emphatic victory, plus tenants' Grays 2-1 win at Brightlingsea, kept Dockers' Isthmian North play-off hopes alive - but there was no joy in the camp of Sporting, who were promoted alongside Tilbury last season but who are condemned now to relegation. 

Following defeat on the road at Gorleston last weekend made a couple of changes to the starting 11 as Darren Phillips replaced injured Connor Martin. Lindell Stewart and Macauley Joynes also started as Harrison Day and Dan Trendall joined youngsters, Harrison Wickens and Jake Weston on the bench.

Dockers got off to a flying start when they were awarded a penalty inside 20 minutes. Kieran Jones slotted through a pass to Lindell Stewart who was brought down in the area as he bore down on goal. 

The responsibility fell to Alex Hernandez who made no mistake, drilling his strike into the bottom left-hand corner.

Tilbury continued to dominate and soon doubled their lead when Lindell Stewart produced a goal-of-the-season contender on the half-hour mark. 

Stewart rolled the defender and gained possession on the edge of the area before unleashing a rocket into the top left-hand corner.

A fantastic first-half display was made even better when Oli Spooner did brilliantly to make an interception and prevent Bengal from playing out from the back. The skipper then fed Kieran Jones on the right wing who carried the ball into the area and calmly slotted past the keeper.

Following the break, substitute Harrison Day went on an excellent run down the right flank before skipping past the defender, but he was denied his first goal in a Tilbury shirt as Lawrence Whymark made a good save.

Dockers sit sixth in the table after win.

But Day finally opened his Tilbury account when Kieran Jones won the ball back high up the pitch and released Day who burst through the middle before the striker placed his strike into the bottom corner

With just four minutes left on the clock, Sporting's Sam Bailey tried his luck with a free kick from the right- hand side, and his effort managed to evade a touch as it went all the way into the far corner.

However, it was not much of a consolation for The East Londoners as their relegation, following promotion from the Eastern Counties League last season, was confirmed upon the final whistle.

Dockers, who are back in action on Friday (11 April) when they travel to title-chasing league leaders Brentwood Town (7.45pm), are still outsiders to get into the top five but they have closed the gap on Brightlingsea to  six points, with four matches left. 

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