Newmarket Town 1, Tilbury 3

TILBURY opened their 2026 points account with an Isthmian North win on the road at Newmarket on Saturday (10 January) where they rode early home pressure from the Jockeys and eventually raced to a comfortable win.

Managers George Christou and Jack Toghli rang the changes after the home defeat by Maldon, as Tyler Forbes, Jake Brocklebank and Kieran Jones all started in place of Mo Amir, Tobias Braney and Ronnie Winn, who were all among the substitutes.

Tilbury started the more lively of the two sides and came close to opening the scoring when Forbes released Dan Trendall down the left with a quick throw-in. Trendall burst past his man and fired towards the near-side top corner, producing a good save from James Young.

The Jockeys grew into the game and took control for large parts of the first half. After 40 minutes, the hosts worked the ball down the right flank and whipped in an early delivery, which found Zak Sowden-Fletcher, but his header flew just over the crossbar.

Newmarket continued to press for the breakthrough; this time, a cross from the left proved to be dangerous as the ball made its way to Prince Mutswunguma. From 10 yards out, Prince took a snapshot on the swivel, but Dion Henry was down brilliantly to deny the striker.

Tilbury quickly worked the ball down the other end of the pitch and won a corner on the stroke of half-time. Jack Hayes' header was denied by an even better save than Henry's; however, the save came from a defender as Finley Whiteley let out his inner Luis Suarez, resulting in a penalty and a red card.

Jones was the man who stepped up, and he made no mistake, firing home from the spot to score his 11th goal of the season.

After the break, Tilbury doubled their lead courtesy of Forbes, who beat the offside trap to latch onto Lester Ward's clipped pass before brilliantly finishing with a delicate chip over the keeper's head.

And it didn't take long for the visitors to increase the deficit even further, as Forbes raced through once again. Forbes' first strike was blocked, but the rebound bounced up kindly for the forward, who headed home from close range.

The Jockeys searched for a way back into the game with a couple of chances involving striker, Josh Lee, however, Henry was out quick to match his efforts.

The hosts eventually found themselves a consolation goal in stoppage time, as a deep corner made its way to the feet of Josh Coulson, who bundled the ball over the line from close range.

Tilbury remained in 13th in the table, 15 points clear of the drop zone but, more encouragingly, just three points away from Redbridge in eighth.

SQUAD: Henry, Fry (Martin), Ward (Braney), Reeve, Hayes ©, Elliott, Brocklebank, Carter (Winn), Jones (Amir), Trendall, Forbes (Agyiri).

Dockers are back in action on Saturday, 17 January when they host fourth-placed Bowers & Pitsea.