Tilbury 2, Brightlingsea Regent 1
TILBURY sit top of the Isthmian North table after Saturday's (26 October) home win against Brightlingsea Regent and a surprise defeat at home for previous table-toppers Bury Town.
The match was Tilbury's eighth in an unbeaten run that has seen them surge up the table since the pivotal signings of David Hughes and Alex Hernandez, the latter whose spectacular impact has seen him score eight time in those eight matches.
His goal on Saturday proved to be the difference between the sides as he comprehensively converted a penalty he won when fouled in the box on 70 minutes. The striker crashed the ball into the roof of the net to spark celebrations among the majority of an impressive crowd of 362.
Tilbury made a bright start to the match, picking up where they left off in the midweek win at Mildenhall, with Dan Trendall making an early surge down the left before getting off a strike that brought a save from visiting keeper George Marsh.
The breakthrough came on the half hour when Hernandez showed his skills as a creator as well as a finisher, outpacing a defender and setting a cross into the danger area. An initial attempt was saved but Macauley Joynes was on hand to find the net at the second time of asking.
Dockers took the lead into the break and the second half was an even affair, which saw a debut for new striker Lindell Stewart when he replaced Trendall on 66 minutes.
Four minutes later he was joining in the goalscoring celebrations!
Brightlingsea, themselves very much engaged at the top end of the table, were not ready to give in and Fletcher Alexander-Hubbard went close with a free kick just over the bar.
and the visitors got their reward to set up a tense finish to the match when, with 15 minutes remaining, Charlie Collis thumped home a strike from the edge of the box.
However, Tilbury held their nerve and survived five anxious minutes of added time to record the victory that delighted home fans, who were even more rapturous when word came through that Bury had been beaten 2-0 at home by Waltham Abbey.
Dockers are back in action on Tuesday evening with an Isthmian Velocity Cup second round trip to Haringey Borough.
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