White Ensign 1, Tilbury 1

AFTER the encouragement of the weekend win against Halstead Town, Tilbury will feel two points were lost rather than one gained in a fiesty and controversial encounter at Burrough's Park on Wednesday (13 September) evening.

The clash at the home of Great Wakering Rovers saw Dockers make the early running and Roman Cambell was unlucky when a speculative shot caught Ensign's keeper napping but was just wide.

And he had another chance soon after following a super cross from Johnny Ashman but again it went the wrong side of the woodwork.

Harry Donovan and Olly Spooner also spurned chances but the match, which saw some fierce challenges and one or two confrontations was goalless at the break.

Ensign were better on the resumption and after they also missed a couple of chances, the deadlock was finally broken on 65 minutes when Ezekiel Oluwatobi A Bademosi found the net on the rebound after a first effort was blocked.

The lead lasted just nine minutes as Spooner set up Connor Martin who showed great composure, faking a shot and then smashing the ball into the roof of the net.

Ensign were then reduced to ten men when captain Mitchell Stuart-Evans was dismissed with nine minutes to go.

There was contention in the closing moments when Tilbury were denied what looked a clear penalty when Cambell went down.

Ultimately Dockers couldn't make the extra player count and the points were shared.

Tilbury boss Marc Harrison was incandescent about the standard of officiating and expressed his view at the final whistle - earning himself a red card for his trouble!

Action from the match can be viewed here: