Tilbury 1, Gorleston 0

AHEAD of Saturday's FA Trophy trip to Chertsey, Tilbury gave themselves a much-need fillip with Tuesday (30 September) Isthmian North win at home to Gorleston.

Dockers started brightly with a chance to go ahead after just 10 minutes when Oli Spooner skipped past a challenge on the edge of the area and found Medo Konte bursting into the area from the left. The full-back took a touch and drilled his strike towards the far corner, but the ball rolled agonisingly wide of the target.

Tilbury came forward again and continued to cause problems for the Gorleston defence when Oli Spooner released Max Appauh in space down the left. He had Tyler Forbes for company, and a square ball gave the recent signing a chance to open the scoring, but a brilliant save from Antoni Bort denied him. The rebound fell to Juwon Akintunde, but his effort was cut out by a defender and turned around the post.

And Akintunde suffered a similar fate just moments later, when he was played through with just the keeper to beat, but there was no way past the wall of Bort.

The updated Isthmian North League table

However, the hosts didn't take their foot off the gas and kept pushing for the opener. A switch of play found Forbes on the right wing, and his touch was perfect to take it around the defender and into space. Bort once again matched the forward's strike, but this time the ball bounced up to Jamie Reynolds, who was on hand to head home and give Tilbury the lead.

Following the break, Tilbury were still the side creating the better chances and found a way past the Greens' back line in the 68th minute. Substitute Kieran Jones took the ball on the half turn and flicked a pass around the corner to release Forbes who attempted to lift the ball over the keeper, but Bort put up a strong hand to keep the scoreline at just 1-0.

Bort was called to action once again in the 70th minute, when Jamie Reynolds' pass found Kieran Jones running beyond the last line of defence. However, man of the match Bort, rushed out and snatched the ball away from Jones' feet.

Gorleston's best chance of the game came just a couple of minutes later, when Conor Ingram gained possession on the left flank before delivering a low, driven cross into the area. Connor Martin slid in to try to get the ball clear, but he almost turned the ball into his own net. Fortunately, Harry Fairs managed to get in the way and Tilbury saw out the remaining time.

SQUAD: Fairs, Reeve, Konte, Martin, Hayes, Carter, Reynolds, Spooner ©, Forbes (Ward), Akintunde (Jones), Appauh. SUBS UNUSED: Balisani, Aderibigbe. GOAL: Jamie Reynolds